Title

Simulation of Blood Flow and Nanoparticle Transport in a Stenosed Carotid Bifurcation and Pseudo-Arteriole

Author Info

Graham Doig, University of New South WalesFollow
Guan H. Yeoh, University of New South Wales
Victoria Timchenko, University of New South Wales
Gary Rosengarten, University of New South Wales
Tracie J. Barber, University of New South Wales
Sherman C.P. Cheung, Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology

Recommended Citation

Published in The Journal of Computational Multiphase Flows, Volume 4, Issue 1, March 1, 2012, pages 85-101.

NOTE: At the time of publication, the author Graham Doig was not yet affiliated with Cal Poly.

Abstract

Numerical simulation of flow through a realistic bifurcated carotid artery geometry with a stenosis has been conducted for comparison to experimental measurements. The behaviour of simplified therapeutic nanoparticles in relatively low concentration was observed using a discrete particle approach. The role of size (diameters from 500 nm to 50 nm) in determining particle residence time and the potential for both desirable and undesirable wall interactions was investigated. It was found that mean particle residence time reduced with decreasing particle diameter, and the percentage of particles experiencing one or more wall interactions increased simultaneously. Further simulations were conducted on a scaled-down version of the geometry which approximated the size and flow conditions of an arteriole with capillary branches, and in this instance the mean residence time increased with decreasing particle diameter, owing largely to the greater influence of Brownian motion. 33% of all 50 nm particles were involved in wall interactions, indicating that smaller particles would have a greater ability to target, for instance, cancerous tumours in such regions.

Disciplines

Aerospace Engineering

Copyright

2012 Sage Publications.