Development and validation of models for the investigation of blood clotting in idealized stenoses and cerebral aneurysms

Abstract

An in vitro model of blood clotting is presented using hypercoaguable milk as an analog for blood. Milk clot formation was studied for periods of 2, 5, 10, 20, and 30 min within an idealized stenosis geometry. Clot formation was recorded using photography, clot casting, and clot mass calculation. The distribution of clot within the fluid was seen to be in good agreement with a previous study that used a residence time model to predict areas of clot formation in thrombin solution. A numerical model was formulated within computational fluid dynamics package CFX that allowed local activation of blood clotting to be simulated. This model was applied to the analysis of an idealized cerebral aneurysm geometry. An idealized coil geometry was included within the aneurysm and clotting fluid concentration and fluid residence time were modeled using transport equations within CFX. The viscosity of the fluid was defined as a function of both residence time and clotting fluid concentration. The model was seen to produce features consistent with observations of thrombosis within cerebral aneurysms, while avoiding the unrealistic build up of clot in near-wall regions that is associated with a pure residence time model.