Analysis of the effect of stent emplacement on LDL transport within an artery

Abstract

A comprehensive analytical solution for macromolecule transport within an artery is presented. The arterial wall is modeled as a multilayer structure to accommodate the homogeneous layers within it. The arterial layers and the stent are treated as porous media to accommodate transport across the complex wall structure. The volume-averaged transport equations and the method of matched asymptotic expansions are employed to solve for species concentration distributions within the stent and various layers of the arterial wall. The analytical results are found to be in very good agreement with the numerical results. The effect of stent compactness on LDL concentration along the lumen flow direction as well across the different layers is investigated. This work provides essential fundamental information for macromolecular transport within an artery with or without the presence of a stent.