Numerical Simulation of Blood Flow Through Normal and Stenotic Carotid Artery

The carotid artery sinus is often the site of vascular diseases such as atherosclerosis, which may induce cerebral stroke. Individual differences in the carotid artery can lead to different possibilities for atherosclerosis, and the different hemodynamics of the carotid artery with stenosis can help to reveal the occurrence of atherosclerosis. In this work, the hemodynamics in the patient-specific carotid bifurcation are studied by using the modified Herschel–Bulkley model. Calculations show that the helical flow is presented in the healthy carotid sinus and disappears in the stenosed carotid sinus. The disappearance of helical flow in the carotid artery enhances the risk of atherosclerosis. The atherosclerotic lesion is more prone to occur in the distal portion of the carotid sinus than in the proximal portion where the oscillatory shear index (OSI) is also high. The presence of stenosis makes the atherosclerotic lesion develop toward the proximal portion. The disappearance of helical flow in the carotid artery is an important risk signal for the occurrence of atherosclerosis.