Computational Models of Arterial Flow and Mass Transport

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Numerical simulation of arterial hemodynamics and mass transport have become an important tool in recent years due to the significant advances in numerical mathematics, scientific computation and due to the increased power of computers. Over the past years increasingly more elaborate models have been developed in order to gain a better insight into the physiological processes in the vascular system and the initiation and development of arterial diseases. Hemodynamic factors apparently play an important role in the development of these diseases, and therefore, local arterial flow dynamics, such as flow separation, flow recirculation, low and oscillatory wall shear stress, and the influence on mass transport in the arterial lumen and in the artery wall are subjects of intensive research. Corresponding studies include rheological effects in blood flow resulting from the interactions between blood phases up to the transport processes of macromolecules in the arteries and in the artery wall layers. The problems discussed are mathematically described by systems of coupled nonlinear partial differential equations mostly in large parameter range. The numerical approach uses the finite element method, which is often the most suitable approximation technique due to its high flexibility.