KEYWORDS: Particles, 3D modeling, Arteries, Motion models, Independent component analysis, Hemodynamics, Computational fluid dynamics, Turbulence, Data modeling, Simulation of CCA and DLA aggregates
The presence of ulceration in carotid artery plaque is an independent risk factor for thromboembolic stroke. However,
the associated pathophysiological mechanisms - in particular the mechanisms related to the local hemodynamics in the
carotid artery bifurcation - are not well understood. We investigated the effect of carotid plaque ulceration on the local
time-varying three-dimensional flow field using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) models of a stenosed carotid
bifurcation geometry, with and without the presence of ulceration. CFD analysis of each model was performed with a
spatial finite element discretization of over 150,000 quadratic tetrahedral elements and a temporal discretization of 4800
timesteps per cardiac cycle, to adequately resolve the flow field and pulsatile flow, respectively. Pulsatile flow
simulations were iterated for five cardiac cycles to allow for cycle-to-cycle analysis following the damping of initial
transients in the solution. Comparison between models revealed differences in flow patterns induced by flow exiting
from the region of the ulcer cavity, in particular, to the shape, orientation and helicity of the high velocity jet through the
stenosis. The stenotic jet in both models exhibited oscillatory motion, but produced higher levels of phase-ensembled
turbulence intensity in the ulcerated model. In addition, enhanced out-of-plane recirculation and helical flow was
observed in the ulcerated model. These preliminary results suggest that local fluid behaviour may contribute to the
thrombogenic risk associated with plaque ulcerations in the stenotic carotid artery bifurcation.
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