Modeling blood flow around a thrombus using a hybrid particle-continuum approach

Area of Science:

• Biomedical Engineering
• Computational Fluid Dynamics
• Thrombosis Research

Background:

• Understanding thrombus (blood clot) behavior in arteries is crucial for treating cardiovascular diseases.
• Existing models often struggle to capture the complex interplay between clot structure and blood flow dynamics.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate a novel hybrid, multiscale, particle-continuum numerical method.
• To simulate the interaction of realistic thrombus geometries with unsteady arterial hemodynamics.
• To enable detailed investigations of thrombosis in patient-specific contexts.

Main Methods:

• A discrete particle/element method describes the thrombus.
• A fictitious domain finite element method models blood flow.
• The particle-continuum approach is coupled to capture macroscale and microscale phenomena.
• A staggering algorithm handles time-varying thrombus geometry, including clot lysis.

Main Results:

• The method effectively represents thrombi with diverse morphologies and microstructures.
• Complex macroscale flow structures interacting with thrombi are resolved.
• Micromechanical features and microscale intra-thrombus flow and perfusion are captured.
• Hemodynamics around dynamic thrombus changes, such as lysis, are simulated.

Conclusions:

• The hybrid particle-continuum method offers a unified approach to thrombus-hemodynamics interactions.
• It provides significant advantages for studying thrombosis at both macro and micro scales.
• This method facilitates future research into patient-specific thrombosis mechanisms.