Modeling Blood Flow in Arteries with Aneurysm

In collaboration with: Mahesh V. Jayaram, Rhode Island Hospital

An aneurysm is a swelling along a blood vessel and among aneurysms in the various parts of the arterial system, the intracranial aneurysm is the most serious because of high mortality rate and long term disability in case of rupture. In most cases, aneurysms are asympotmatic one of the common locations of an intracranial aneurysm is the internal carotid artery (ICA) and near the Posterior Communicating Artery (PCoA) Branch. For more information about aneurysm, we refer to the brain aneursym foundation. We have performed simulations with datasets and their modifications with different types of aneurysms or bifurcations to find an optimal numerical domain and to relate WSS with the growth of an aneurysm.

Project Goals

  • Understand the pathology of aneurysm. In other words, people want to know why and how aneurysms form. It is well know that blood vessel walls respond to mechanical stimuli such as pressure and wall shear stress from the blood at various levels of the vascular system. Accurate simulations with physiologically correct boundary condition and modeling can visualize pressure and wall shear stress distribution.
  • Predict the stability and wall integrity of aneurysms so that clinicians are able to make a better decision on when and how to intervent the progress of the aneurysm. Accurate simulations need modeling of deformable walls and incorporation of plausible mechanical properties of vessel wall as well as geometry information such as wall thickness and shape.
  • As a less invasive surgery, stent or coil embolization are frequently used. Aneurysm flow simulations can help the design of better stents and coils and surgery procedures which may cause serious complications otherwise.

Publications

  • H. Baek, Mahesh V. Jayaraman and G. E. Karniadakis. Wall Shear Stress and Pressure Distribution on Aneurysms and Infundibulae in the Posterior Communicating Artery Bifurcation. Ann. Biomed. Eng. 2009.