Effect of wall flexibility on the deformation during flow in a stenosed coronary artery

Abstract

The effect of varying wall flexibility on the deformation of an artery during steady and pulsatile flow of blood is investigated. The artery geometry is recreated from patient-derived data for a stenosed left coronary artery. Blood flow in the artery is modeled using power-law fluid. The fluid-structure interaction of blood flow on artery wall is simulated using ANSYS 16.2, and the resulting wall deformation is documented. A comparison of wall deformation using flexibility models like Rigid, Linear Elastic, Neo-hookean, Mooney-Rivlin and Holzapfel are obtained for steady flow in the artery. The maximum wall deformation in coronary flow conditions predicted by the Holzapfel model is only around 50% that predicted by the Neo-Hookean model. The flow-induced deformations reported here for patient-derived stenosed coronary artery with physiologically accurate model are the first of its kind. These results help immensely in the planning of angioplasty.