Study of hemodynamic parameters to predict coronary artery disease using assumed healthy arterial models

Abstract

To understand the hemodynamic characteristics of arterial disease, the flow characteristics of abnormal blood vessels containing lesions and normal blood vessels before lesions form should be considered. In this study, abnormal arterial models were created using medical images from six patients with coronary artery disease using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) methods. In addition, normal models were created (6 cases) from the abnormal arterial models, allowing for comparison of flow characteristics. In curved areas and at bifurcations of the normal arterial models, blood flow tended to be stagnant or reverse. This low flow resulted in low wall shear stress and a high oscillatory shear index, which coincided with the locations of plaques in actual patients. In the abnormal models, on the other hand, high shear stress occurred in stenosis due to the presence of plaque. Additionally, low AWSS and high OSI were detected downstream of stenotic segments.