Key result
A three-dimensional helical arterial model reduced the range and extent of low wall shear stress regions and substantially increased oxygen flux through the walls compared to a planar cylindrical model.
Three-dimensional helical modeling of arteries better captures physiological wall shear stress and oxygen mass transfer compared to planar models, closely resembling human coronary arteries.
Helical arterial models may better approximate coronary hemodynamics in simulations; leaves open translation to human risk prediction or device design.
Arterial geometry is commonly non-planar and associated with swirling blood flow. In this study, we examine the effect of arterial three-dimensionality on the distribution of wall shear stress (WSS) and the mass transfer of oxygen from the blood to the vessel wall in a U-bend, by modelling the blood vessels as either cylindrical or helical conduits. The results show that under physiological flow conditions, three-dimensionality can reduce both the range and extent of low WSS regions and substantially increase oxygen flux through the walls. The Sherwood number and WSS distributions between the three-dimensional helical model and a human coronary artery show remarkable qualitative agreement, implying that coronary arteries may potentially be described with a relatively simple idealized three-dimensional model, characterized by a small number of well-defined geometric parameters. The flow pattern downstream of a planar bend results in separation of the Sh number and WSS effects, a finding that implies means of investigating them individually.
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Coppola et al. (2008) studied Arterial hemodynamics and oxygen mass transfer. Helical arterial geometry (three-dimensional model) vs. Cylindrical arterial geometry (planar model) was evaluated on Wall shear stress (WSS) and Sherwood number (Sh) distributions. A three-dimensional helical arterial model reduced the range and extent of low wall shear stress regions and substantially increased oxygen flux through the walls compared to a planar cylindrical model.
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