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Atrial fibrillation (AF) can alter intra-cardiac flow and cardiac output that subsequently affects aortic flow circulation. These changes may become more significant where they occur concomitantly with ageing. Aortic ageing is accompanied with morphological changes such as dilation, lengthening, and arch unfolding. While the recognition of AF mechanism has been the subject of numerous studies, less focus has been devoted to the aortic circulation during the AF and there is a lack of such investigation at different ages. The current work aims to address the present gap. First, we analyse aortic flow distribution in three configurations, which attribute to young, middle and old people, using geometries constructed via clinical data. We then introduce two transient inlet flow conditions representative of key AF-associated defects. Results demonstrate that both AF and ageing negatively affect flow circulation. The main consequence of concomitant occurrence is enhancement of endothelial cell activation potential (ECAP) throughout the vascular domain, mainly at aortic arch and descending thoracic aorta, which is consistent with some clinical observations. The outcome of the current study suggests that AF exacerbates the vascular defects occurred due to the ageing, which increases the possibility of cardiovascular diseases per se. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at (10.1007/s10439-021-02744-9).

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common type of arrhythmia, which undermines cardiac function. Atrial fibrillation is a multi-facet malady and it may occur as a result of other diseases or it may trigger other problems. One of the main complications of AF is stroke due to the possibility of clot formation inside the atrium. However, the possibility of stroke occurrence due to the AF and the location from which an embolus dispatches are subject of debate. Another hypothesis about the embolus formation during AF is thrombus formation in aorta and carotid arteries, embolus detachment and its movement. To investigate the possibility of the latter postulation, the current work suggests a parametric study to quantify the sensitivity of aortic flow to four common AF traits including lack of atrial kick, atrial remodelling, left ventricle systolic dysfunction, and high frequency fibrillation. The simulation was carried out by coupling several in-house codes and ANSYS-CFX module. The results reveal that AF traits lower flow rate at left ventricular outflow tract, which in general lowers blood perfusion to systemic, cerebral and coronary circulations. Consequently, it leads to endothelial cell activation potential (ECAP) increase and variation of flow structure that both suggest predisposed areas to atherogenesis and thrombus formation in different regions in ascending aorta, aortic arch and descending thoracic aorta. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1007/s10439-020-02448-6) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm (AAA) is one of the main cardiovascular diseases, which threats human’s health while it appears, develops and in crucial cases ruptures and leads to hemorrhage. In the current work, we aim to investigate numerically the transient blood flow in a patient-specific AAA model, while effects of wall compliance is considered by employing the fluid-structure interaction method. The AAA model is reconstructed from acquired CT angiographic data of a patient diagnosed with AAA and an intraluminal thrombus (ILT). For the comparison purposes two different material models, i.e. isotropic and anisotropic are considered. Additionally, to have a better estimation, wall thickness variability is compared with simpler uniform wall thickness model. In this study Navier-Stokes equations along with elastodynamics equation are coupled through Arbitrary Lagrangian-Eulerian formulation method and solved numerically. Findings demonstrate that the isotropic material model with uniform wall thickness significantly underestimates wall stresses as compared to the anisotropic material model with variable wall thickness. Indeed, results emphasize that considering vessel wall as an anisotropic, heterogeneous (variable thickness) structure estimates much higher wall stresses comparing with isotropic, uniform thickness model. Therefore, given realistic vessel wall structure and the fact that the anisotropic, variable wall thickness model predicts higher wall stresses, it could be a more reliable model to give an accurate estimation to physicians to diagnose the stage of a disease and choosing an appropriate therapeutic procedure.

The interstitial fluid transport plays an important role in terms of its effect on the delivery of therapeutic agents to the cancerous organs. In this study, a comprehensive numerical simulation of the interstitial fluid transport establishing 3D models of tumor and normal tissue is accomplished. Different shapes of solid tumors and their surrounding normal tissues are selected, by employing the porous media model and incorporating Darcy's model and Starling's law. Besides, effects of the tumor radius, normal tissue size, tissue hydraulic conductivity and necrotic core are investigated on the interstitial fluid pressure (IFP) and interstitial fluid velocity (IFV). Generally, results suggest that the configurations of the tumor and surrounding normal tissue affect IFP and IFV distributions inside the interstitium, which are much more pronounced for various configuration of the tumor. Furthermore, findings demonstrate that larger tumors are more prone for producing elevated IFP comparing with the smaller ones and impress both IFP and IFV dramatically. Nevertheless, normal tissue size has less impact on IFP and IFV, until its volume ratio to the tumor remains greater than unity; conversely, for the values lower than unity the variations become more significant. Finally, existence of necrotic core and its location in the tumor interstitium alters IFP and IFV patterns and increases IFV, considerably.

Over the past few decades, different therapeutic methods for the treatment of intracranial aneurysms have been developed. During recent years, novel standalone intrasaccular Woven EndoBridge (WEB) technique has paved the way for efficient therapy and reduced some deficiencies in prior procedures. Blood hemodynamics plays a crucial role in occurrence and perpetuating of aneurysm; therefore, understanding of relevant parameters can lead to a better treatment and evolution of design. Objectively, this paper has established the first mathematical framework to explore hemodynamic parameters for WEB-treated saccular aneurysms by employing Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD). Two ideal models of artery — one is suffered by a bifurcation aneurysm at Basilar Artery (BA) and another Posterior Cerebral Artery (PCA) aneurysm — are selected. Simulations are performed for an untreated and three WEB-treated aneurysms by Dual Layer (DL), Single Layer (SL) and Single Layer Sphere (SLS) WEBs. Results demonstrate that, generally, the WEB reduces flow intrusion and circulation inside the aneurysm sac, which leads to lowering WSS; however, the infiltrated flow to the WEB causes slight increase in intrasaccular pressure. Moreover, the numerical results show that the WEB DL reduces velocity and WSS, and elevates pressure inside the sac more than the WEBs SL and SLS. Among the explored WEB models (DL, SL and SLS), by assuming thorough binding at the aneurysm neck, the WEB DL demonstrates much efficient performance in flow diversion from the aneurysm, while despite the different structure of WEBs SL and SLS, they perform similarly.

Low-density lipoprotein (LDL), which is recognized as bad cholesterol, typically has been regarded as a main cause of atherosclerosis. LDL infiltration across arterial wall and subsequent formation of Ox-LDL could lead to atherogenesis. In the present study, combined effects of non-Newtonian fluid behavior and fluid–structure interaction (FSI) on LDL mass transfer inside an artery and through its multilayer arterial wall are examined numerically. Navier–Stokes equations for the blood flow inside the lumen and modified Darcy’s model for the power-law fluid through the porous arterial wall are coupled with the equations of mass transfer to describe LDL distributions in various segments of the artery. In addition, the arterial wall is considered as a heterogeneous permeable elastic medium. Thus, elastodynamics equation is invoked to examine effects of different wall elasticity on LDL distribution in the artery. Findings suggest that non-Newtonian behavior of filtrated plasma within the wall enhances LDL accumulation meaningfully. Moreover, results demonstrate that at high blood pressure and due to the wall elasticity, endothelium pores expand, which cause significant variations on endothelium physiological properties in a way that lead to higher LDL accumulation. Additionally, results describe that under hypertension, by increasing angular strain, endothelial junctions especially at leaky sites expand more dramatic for the high elastic model, which in turn causes higher LDL accumulation across the intima layer and elevates atherogenesis risk.

Blood non-Newtonian behavior on low-density lipoproteins (LDL) accumulation is analyzed numerically, while fluid-multilayered arteries are adopted for nonstenotic and 30%–60% symmetrical stenosed models. Present model considers non-Newtonian effects inside the lumen and within arterial layers simultaneously, which has not been examined in previous studies. Navier–Stokes equations are solved along with the mass transport convection–diffusion equations and Darcy’s model for species transport inside the luminal flow and across wall layers, respectively. Carreau model for the luminal flow and the modified Darcy equation for the power-law fluid within arterial layers are employed to model blood rheological characteristics, appropriately. Results indicate that in large arteries with relatively high Reynolds number Newtonian model estimates LDL concentration patterns well enough, however, this model seriously incompetent for regions with low WSS. Moreover, Newtonian model for plasma underestimates LDL concentration especially on luminal surface and across arterial wall. Therefore, applying non-Newtonian model seems essential for reaching to a more accurate estimation of LDL distribution in the artery. Finally, blood flow inside constricted arteries demonstrates that LDL concentration patterns along the stenoses inside the luminal flow and across arterial layers are strongly influenced as compared to the nonstenotic arteries. Additionally, among four stenosis severity grades, 40% stenosis is prone to more LDL accumulation along the post-stenotic regions.

Rupture of the abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) is the result of the relatively complex interaction of blood hemodynamics and material behavior of arterial walls. In the present study, the cumulative effects of physiological parameters such as the directional growth, arterial wall properties (isotropy and anisotropy), iliac bifurcation and arterial wall thickness on prediction of wall stress in fully coupled fluid-structure interaction (FSI) analysis of five idealized AAA models have been investigated. In particular, the numerical model considers the heterogeneity of arterial wall and the iliac bifurcation, which allows the study of the geometric asymmetry due to the growth of the aneurysm into different directions. Results demonstrate that the blood pulsatile nature is responsible for emerging a time-dependent recirculation zone inside the aneurysm, which directly affects the stress distribution in aneurismal wall. Therefore, aneurysm deviation from the arterial axis, especially, in the lateral direction increases the wall stress in a relatively nonlinear fashion. Among the models analyzed in this investigation, the anisotropic material model that considers the wall thickness variations, greatly affects the wall stress values, while the stress distributions are less affected as compared to the uniform wall thickness models. In this regard, it is confirmed that wall stress predictions are more influenced by the appropriate structural model than the geometrical considerations such as the level of asymmetry and its curvature, growth direction and its extent.