Abstract
Carotid is one of the focal regions prone to atherosclerosis. Previous studies have shown that hemodynamics plays an important role in the initiation and formation of atherosclerosis plaques. In this work, we numerically investigate the flow patterns in two carotids with different flares and proximal curvatures under inflows from three age groups with/without exercise. The simulation results show that the effects of exercising on the carotid flow and wall shear stress are different at different time instants and for different age groups. As for the oscillatory shear index, exercise does not have significant effects. The effects of inflow waveforms on the reversed flow volume are also examined. For the carotid C1 with low flare and high proximal curvature, it is found that exercising increases and decreases the reversed flow volume for young and senior people, respectively. For middle-aged people, on the other hand, the reversed flow volume is increased and decreased in the middle of the sinus and near the bifurcation, respectively, for the carotid C1. For the carotid C2 with high flare and low curvature, on the other hand, it is found that exercising increases the reversed flow volume for all age groups. This work suggests that the effects of exercise on atherosclerosis should be evaluated by fully considering patient-specific geometries and ages.
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