Effect of surface irregularities on unsteady pulsatile flow in a compliant artery

Of concern in the paper is an analytical study of pulsatile blood flow in an irregular stenosed arterial segment through a mathematical model. The model is two-dimensional and axisymmetric with an outline of the stenosis obtained from a three-dimensional casting of a mildly stenosed artery [L. Back, Y. Cho, D. Crawford, R. Cuffel, Effect of mild atherosclerosis on flow resistance in a coronary artery casting of man, J. Biomech. Eng. 106 (1984) 48–53]. The combined influence of an asymmetric shape and surface irregularities of the constriction has been explored in a computational study of blood flow through arterial stenosis with 48% areal occlusion. The moving wall of the artery is included to be anisotropic, linear, viscoelastic, incompressible circular cylindrical membrane shell. The effect of the surrounding connective tissues on the motion of the arterial wall is also paid due attention. Results are also obtained for a smooth stenosis model and also for a stenosis model representative by the cosine curve. An extensive quantitative analysis has been performed in non-uniform non-staggered grids through numerical computations for the effect of surface irregularities on the flow velocity, the flux, the resistive impedance and on the wall shear stress through their graphical representations so as to validate the applicability of such an improved mathematical model.     

PRESSURE AND PRESSURE GRADIENT IN AN AXISYMMETRIC RIGID VESSEL WITH STENOSIS

Based on an improvement of the Karman-Pohlhausen's method, using nonlinear polynomial fitting and numerical integral, the axial distributions of pressure and its gradient in an axisymmetric rigid vessel with stenosis were obtained, and the distributions related to Reynolds number and the geometry of stenotic vessel were discussed. It shows that with the increasing of stenotic degree or Reynolds number, the fluctuation of pressure and its gradient in stenotic area is intense rapidly, and negative pressure occurs subsequently in the diverging part of stenotic area. Especially when the axial range of stenosis extends, the flow of blood in the diverging part will be more obviously changed. In higher Reynolds number or heavy stenosis, theoretical calculation is mainly in accordance with nast experiments.     

Medical image based hemodynamic analysis

随着计算机成像技术的发展,计算机断层扫描(CT)和核磁共振(MRI)已经广泛应用于临床,特别是血管类疾病的诊断,比如动脉狭窄、血管瘤、血管畸形等.除了可以提供高分辨率的静态图像,先进的MRI技术还可以通过时间序列直接反映血流动力学的变化.而基于计算机成像和三维重建技术,血流动力学的参数又可以通过计算流体力学的方法进行详细的分析.如何将血流动力学参数和临床诊断相结合是近年来在转化医学领域研究的热点.结合文献调研和作者自己的研究工作对基于医学图像的血流动力学分析进行综述,并探讨未来的研究方向.     

Hyaluronic Acid: Its Role in Voice

The extracellular matrix (ECM), once regarded simply as a structural scaffold, is now recognized as an important modulator of cellular behavior and function. One component that plays a prominent role in this process is hyaluronic acid (HA)--a molecule found in many different tissues. Research into the roles of HA indicates that it plays a key role in tissue viscosity, shock absorption, and space filling. Specifically, research into the role of HA in laryngology indicates that it has profound effects on the structure and viscosity of vocal folds. This article provides an introduction to the structure and biological functions of HA and its importance in voice. In addition, an overview of the pharmaceutical applications of HA is discussed.     

Relationship between the hemodynamic changes on multi-Td pulsed arterial spin labeling images and the degrees of cerebral artery stenosis

Objective

To explore the relationship between the hemodynamic changes on multi-Td (delay time) pulsed arterial spin labeling (PASL) images and the degrees of cerebral artery stenosis, and to evaluate the value of multi-Td PASL in detecting the signal changes in cerebral arteries with stenosis.

Patients and methods

29 patients with less than 50% stenosis (mild stenosis group) and 22 patients with 50%–69% stenosis (moderate stenosis group) in M1 segment of unilateral middle cerebral artery (MCA) were included in this study. The degrees of MCA stenosis were measured using time of flight MR angiography (TOF MRA). Multi-Td PASL imaging was performed to detect the signal changes in bilateral MCA. We selected and hand-drew bilateral symmetric branches of MCA as regions of interest (ROIs) on eight-Td PASL images. The intensities of ROIs were measured, and the time-signal intensity curves were acquired by post-processing on a MR workstation. SPSS19.0 statistical software was used for statistics. The differences in the peak intensities and the times to peak intensities between the normal and narrowed sides of the mild and moderate stenosis groups were respectively examined by paired-samples t test. The differences in the changes of peak intensities and times to peak intensity of the two sides between the mild and moderate stenosis groups were examined by independent samples t test. A p value less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant.

Result

There were significant difference in the peak intensities (t = − 2.720, p = 0.011 < 0.05) and no significant difference in the times to peak intensities (t = − 1.279, p = 0.212 > 0.05) between the normal and narrowed sides of the mild stenosis group. There were both significant differences in the peak intensities (t = − 6.076, p = 0.000 < 0.05) and times to peak intensities (t = 7.232, p = 0.000 < 0.05) between the normal side and narrowed side of the moderate stenosis group. There were both significant differences in the changes of peak intensities (t = − 2.11, p = 0.040 < 0.05) and times to peak intensity (t = − 4.23, p = 0.000 < 0.05) between the mild and moderate stenosis groups.

Conclusion

The hemodynamic changes on multi-Td PASL images were different with the degrees of cerebral artery stenosis. Moderate stenosis means greater hemodynamic changes in the arteries than mild stenosis. Multi-Td PASL imaging is a promising means to evaluate the hemodynamic changes in cerebral arteries with stenosis.     

Investigation of physiological pulsatile flow in a model arterial stenosis using large-eddy and direct numerical simulations

Physiological pulsatile flow in a 3D model of arterial stenosis is investigated by using large eddy simulation (LES) technique. The computational domain chosen is a simple channel with a biological type stenosis formed eccentrically on the top wall. The physiological pulsation is generated at the inlet using the first harmonic of the Fourier series of pressure pulse. In LES, the large scale flows are resolved fully while the unresolved subgrid scale (SGS) motions are modelled using a localized dynamic model. Due to the narrowing of artery the pulsatile flow becomes transition-to-turbulent in the downstream region of the stenosis, where a high level of turbulent fluctuations is achieved, and some detailed information about the nature of these fluctuations are revealed through the investigation of the turbulent energy spectra. Transition-to-turbulent of the pulsatile flow in the post stenosis is examined through the various numerical results such as velocity, streamlines, velocity vectors, vortices, wall pressure and shear stresses, turbulent kinetic energy, and pressure gradient. A comparison of the LES results with the coarse DNS are given for the Reynolds number of 2000 in terms of the mean pressure, wall shear stress as well as the turbulent characteristics. The results show that the shear stress at the upper wall is low just prior to the centre of the stenosis, while it is maximum in the throat of the stenosis. But, at the immediate post stenotic region, the wall shear stress takes the oscillating form which is quite harmful to the blood cells and vessels. In addition, the pressure drops at the throat of the stenosis where the re-circulated flow region is created due to the adverse pressure gradient. The maximum turbulent kinetic energy is located at the post stenosis with the presence of the inertial sub-range region of slope −5/3.     

CTA成像在下肢血管闭塞病变中的应用及与血管腔内疗效的关系

本文探讨计算机体层扫描血管造影(CTA)检查在下肢血管闭塞病变中的应用价值及与血管腔内疗效的关系。选取经数字减影血管造影(DSA)确诊的93例下肢血管闭塞病变患者,采用CTA检查,分析CTA诊断病变部位结果、血管狭窄程度及与DSA诊断结果的一致性,并探讨CTA征象与患者血管腔内疗效的关系。结果显示,CTA诊断下肢血管闭塞病变部位、狭窄程度与DSA诊断结果均具有较高一致性(P<0.05);病变血管长度>1.41 cm、血管狭窄程度4级、病变血管远端CT值>62.65 Hu、钙化性斑块是下肢血管闭塞病变血管腔内治疗失败的危险因素(P<0.05)。CTA检查是诊断下肢血管闭塞病变的可靠方法,通过检查患者病变血管长度、血管狭窄程度、远端CT值及管腔内粥样斑块性质,有助于降低治疗盲目性,提高血管腔内治疗成功率。     

定常流下动脉狭窄局部流场的有限元分析

本文利用有限元数值模拟对定常流下动脉狭窄的局部流场进行了系统研究。在数值模拟中求解非线性轴对称Navier-Stokes方程,并对不同狭窄率、不同雷诺数、不同狭窄形状下的流场速度分布、压力降分布和壁面剪应力分布进行了全面细致的分析和讨论。     

Effects of magnetic field,porosity, and wall properties for anisotropically elastic multi-stenosis arteries on blood flow characteristics

A mathematical model for blood flow through an elastic artery with multistenosis under the effect of a magnetic field in a porous medium is presented. The considered arterial segment is simulated by an anisotropically elastic cylindrical tube filled with a viscous incompressible electrically conducting fluid representing blood. An artery with mild local narrowing in its lumen forming a stenosis is analyzed. The effects of arterial wall parameters represent viscoelastic stresses along the longitudinal and circumferential directions T _t and T _θ , respectively. The degree of anisotropy of the vessel wall γ, total mass of the vessel, and surrounding tissues M and contributions of the viscous and elastic constraints to the total tethering C and K respectively on resistance impedance, wall shear stress distribution, and radial and axial velocities are illustrated. Also, the effects of the stenosis shape m, the constant of permeability X, the Hartmann number H _α and the maximum height of the stenosis size δ on the fluid flow characteristics are investigated. The results show that the flow is appreciably influenced by surrounding connective tissues of the arterial wall motion, and the degree of anisotropy of the vessel wall plays an important role in determining the material of the artery. Further, the wall shear stress distribution increases with increasing T _t and γ while decreases with increasing T _θ , M, C, and K. Transmission of the wall shear stress distribution and resistance impedance at the wall surface through a tethered tube are substantially lower than those through a free tube, while the shearing stress distribution at the stenosis throat has inverse characteristic through totally tethered and free tubes. The trapping bolus increases in size toward the line center of the tube as the permeability constant X increases and decreases with the Hartmann number Ha increased. Finally, the trapping bolus appears, gradually in the case of non-symmetric stenosis, and disappears in the case of symmetric stenosis. The size of trapped bolus for the stream lines in a free isotropic tube (i.e., a tube initially unstressed) is smaller than those in a tethered tube.