Simulation based medical treatment of arteriosclerosis

To study the usefulness of computer simulations in planning effective treatment of stenosed carotid arteries.

Computational study of poststenotic areas of carotid arteries.

This study was carried out at the Department of Chemical Engineering, NED University of Engineering and Technology, Karachi from 15th April 2006 till date.

Geometric model of stenosed carotid artery with 75% stenosis was developed on Computational Software Gambit 2.0/Fluent 6.2 and important factors such as recirculations, low and high shear forces on wall, vortex formation etc. were analyzed, which are important to the formation and rupture of plaque.

For 75% stenosis, it was found that in the post-stenotic region the recirculation existed suggesting increased area of low shear stress and thus further deposition of plaque. High shear forces were observed at the throat of stenoses indicating higher probability for plaque to rupture.

The preliminary results from computer simulations matched well with the in-vitro experimental data indicating that computer simulations could revolutionize the medical treatment of stenosed carotid arteries.