Flow examination in abdominal aortic aneurysms: Reduced-order models driven by in vitro data and spectral proper orthogonal decomposition

Abstract

Although flow characteristics in abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAAs) have been extensively studied, they have not found their way into the clinical evaluation of the disease. We, therefore, present experimental AAA flow models, optimized using spectral proper orthogonal decomposition, to aid in gauging AAA severity based on the underlying flow. The resulting reduced-order AAA flow models capture pertinent pathological flow features. With progressive aneurysm expansion, the flow becomes increasingly complex, accompanied by larger vortical structures and elevated particle residence time. The presented models can lead to a more comprehensive clinical evaluation that includes patient-specific flow information.