In the last few years, there have been dramatic advances in our understanding of fundamental mechanisms underlying biological processes involving fluid-structure interaction. As a necessary partner, there have been parallel developments in mathematical modeling, analysis and simulation techniques to explain these mechanisms. While these methods help enhance our ability to understand complex processes (such as the interaction of blood flow with the arterial wall) when used in conjunction with traditional MRI and CT scan image reconstruction tools, there is still a great need for efficient computational methods that can not only help simulate physiologically realistic situations qualitatively but also help analyze and study three-dimensional patient specific modeling of such processes quantitatively. These will be the focus of this proposal with a demonstrated application in the field of large blood vessel mechanics, specifically to address the issue of rupture risk assessment of abdominal aortic aneurysms. The primary goal of this proposal is to develop, implement, validate and apply an efficient computational methodology for analyzing strongly-coupled fluid-structure interaction (FSI) modeling for domains with multiple materials. The application of this methodology will be focused on the assessment of the transient biomechanical environment of native AAAs. The following specific aims are proposed to accomplish this goal: (1) Develop and validate an efficient, strongly-coupled fluid-structure interaction algorithm and (2) Apply the FSI computational tool to a patient-specific AAA clinical research study and evaluate the performance of the associated dynamic vascular mechanics.
This award will enable the development of a computational methodology for modeling the dynamic interaction between blood flow and the vessel wall at the organ scale. We will apply the method to non-invasively evaluate the biomechanical environment of abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAAs) dynamically. To this end, we will combine clinical imaging with computational algorithms to reconstruct patient-specific aneurysms and evaluate the flow-induced wall stresses and deformation. This methodology is expected to greatly enhance the presurgical planning capabilities of vascular surgeries and endovascular therapies in the future management of cardiovascular diseases.
