Numerical Method for Predicting Hemodynamic Effects in Vascular Prostheses

A three-dimensional unsteady periodic flow of blood in xenogenic vascular bioprostheses is simulated by computational fluid dynamics methods. The geometry of the computational domain is based on microtomographic scanning of bioprostheses. To set a variable pressure gradient causing an unsteady flow in the prostheses, personal-specific data of the Doppler echography of the blood flow of a particular patient are used. A comparative analysis of the velocity fields in the flow areas corresponding to three real samples of bioprostheses with multiple stenoses is carried out. In the zones of stenosis and outside of them, the distribution of the near-wall shear stress, which affects the risk factors for thrombosis in the prostheses, is analyzed. An algorithm for predicting the hemodynamic effects arising in vascular bioprostheses is proposed; the algorithm is based on the numerical modeling of the blood flow in these prostheses.