Key result
Increasing arterial wall stiffness to simulate atherosclerosis increases pressure wave velocity by ~77%.
Why the study?
The effect of atherosclerosis degree on pulse wave propagation characteristics in the abdominal aorta was not quantitatively analyzed considering vessel wall elasticity and bifurcation.
Computational modeling demonstrates that increased arterial stiffness in abdominal aortic sclerosis significantly alters pulse wave propagation, which may aid in the early noninvasive diagnosis of atherosclerotic disease.
Model links atherosclerosis severity to altered aortic pulse-wave dynamics; leaves open clinical translation pending validation.
In this paper, a bidirectional fluid‒solid coupling finite element analysis model of the abdominal aorta was established with the use of vascular elastic modulus as the main indicator of atherosclerosis, in consideration of blood dynamic viscosity and compressibility, and pulse-wave propagation time-course calculations were carried out by the application of full-coupling analysis of the arbitrary Lagrangian‒Eulerian algorithm in COMSOL Multiphysics. The effect of atherosclerosis degree on the propagation characteristics of pulse waves in the bifurcated abdominal aorta was quantitatively analyzed. An increase in the modulus of elasticity of the arterial wall resulted in a considerable decrease in the peak pressure pulse wave, an increase in the pressure wave velocity, and a decrease in the axial wave velocity. Arterial bifurcation caused a substantial attenuation of the peak pressure pulse wave and an increase in wave velocity during the cardiac cycle. The modulus of elasticity and bifurcation properties of the arterial wall directly affected the peak value and wave velocity in the propagation of the pressure pulse wave. In addition, the stress concentration effect was evident at the bifurcation site, which was prone to the occurrence of lesions, such as arterial lumen stenosis, and the formation of arterial plaques. In conclusion, in atherosclerotic disease, the time course of pulse-wave propagation changes due to alterations in the geometry and material properties of the vessel wall. The preliminary results of this research will be crucial in guiding the evolution of the pressure pulse wave and the initial diagnosis of atherosclerotic disease through its waveform.
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Miao et al. (2023) studied Abdominal aortic sclerosis disease (n=1). Increased arterial wall elastic modulus vs. Lower elastic modulus (2.5 MPa) was evaluated on Peak pressure pulse wave and pressure wave velocity. Increasing the elastic modulus of the arterial wall to simulate atherosclerosis decreased the peak pressure pulse wave by up to 2.57% and increased pressure wave velocity by up to 76.95%.
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