A NUMERICAL ANALYSIS ON BLOOD FLOOD FLOW INSIDE A CAROTID ARTERY WITH THE PATIENT SPECIFIC ARTERIAL GEOMETRY AND BLOOD RHEOLOGY DATA

실제 혈관 형상 및 혈액 특성을 고려한 경동맥 내 혈액 유동에 대한 수치해석 연구

In the present study, the characteristics of blood flow inside a carotid artery numerically investigated with shear rate specific blood viscosity. To simulate the blood flow with a patient-specific arterial geometry, the geometry of a carotid artery was constructed from 2D rain MRA data. The measured data of blood flow velocity at the common carotid artery were used as boundary conditions of the simulation. For the blood rheology data to be used in the simulation, the patient specific blood viscosity over the whole ranges of shear rate was obtained using $BioVisco^{TM}$. From the numerical results of the blood flow in the carotid artery, the increase of blood viscosity and the decrease of wall shear stress could be found in the carotid bifurcated region, more specifically at the post-plaque dilated region. These characteristics of blood viscosity and wall shear stress can be used more precisely and efficiently to predict the region vulnerable to plaque growht or thrombosis on top of the plaque.