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Biomedical and Life Sciences

Artherosclerosis Modeling

Atherosclerosis involves the deposit of fatty substances, cholesterol, cellular waste products, calcium and other substances in the arterial wall. This buildup is called plaque and may grow large enough to significantly reduce blood flow. If it blocks a blood vessel that feeds the brain, it causes a stroke. Our engineers have developed simulation technologies to characterize the effect of flow in plaque formation. Most of these technologies have been incorporated into the CFD-ACE+ code.


*Original Geometry Courtesy of Visible Productions LLC

Plaque can rupture and form blood clots (thrombus) that can block blood flow or break off and travel to another part of the body (embolus). If either happens and blocks a blood vessel that feeds the heart, it causes a heart attack.

The tissue factor (TF) pathway is considered the primary physiologic coagulation scheme and has been implicated in the thrombosis associated with vascular damage. CFD-ACE+ has been used to computationally model the conversion of Factor X (FX) to Factor Xa (Fxa) by the tissue factor complex (Factor VIIa). The simulation results in a parallel plate flow chamber* are highlighted below.


Concentration Contours in the Flow Domain


* Hall et al., Ann. Biomed. Engg.volume, 26 (1):28-36, 1998

 
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