Blood flow distribution in an anatomically detailed arterial network model: criteria and algorithms

Abstract

Development of blood flow distribution criteria is a mandatory step toward developing computational models and numerical simulations of the systemic circulation. In the present work, we (i) present a systematic approach based on anatomical and physiological considerations to distribute the blood flow in a 1D anatomically detailed model of the arterial network and (ii) develop a numerical procedure to calibrate resistive parameters in terminal models in order to effectively satisfy such flow distribution. For the first goal, we merge data collected from the specialized medical literature with anatomical concepts such as vascular territories to determine blood flow supply to specific (encephalon, kidneys, etc.) and distributed (muscles, skin, etc.) organs. Overall, 28 entities representing the main specific organs are accounted for in the detailed description of the arterial topology that we use as model substrate. In turn, 116 vascular territories are considered as the basic blocks that compose the distributed organs throughout the whole body. For the second goal, Windkessel models are used to represent the peripheral beds, and the values of the resistive parameters are computed applying a Newton method to a parameter identification problem to guarantee the supply of the correct flow fraction to each terminal location according to the given criteria. Finally, it is shown that, by means of the criteria developed, and for a rather standard set of model parameters, the model predicts physiologically realistic pressure and flow waveforms.

An Anatomically Detailed Arterial Network Model for One-Dimensional Computational Hemodynamics

“…Model parameters related to arterial wall behavior and terminal models are calibrated using criteria exposed in Sections II and III of the Supplementary Material, respectively. The interested reader is referred to [41] for a detailed account on the criteria to distribute flow to organs and other vascular territories. Additional ingredients present in the numerical simulations can also be found in the Supplementary Material.…”

“…The model is 170 cm in height, with an equivalent body surface area 16488 cm 2 (measured from the surface of vascular territories, see [41]). With respect to morphometry, vessel lengths resulted naturally from combining branching/anastomotic locations, retrieved from the descriptive anatomy textbooks, and taking into account the measures of the scaffold.…”

The Effects of Cerebral Vasospasm on Cerebral Blood Flow and the Effects of Induced Hypertension: A Mathematical Modelling Study

“…The natural limitation is that the model does not correspond to a specific individual. However, the ADAN model has been largely verified to deliver consistent physiological and pathophysiological predictions in different contexts [3, 4, 33]. The lack of validation is without doubt a limitation, but we should note that validation of this kind of predictions is impossible with current technology because regional pressure and flow rate measurements are not available.…”

A computational framework to characterize and compare the geometry of coronary networks

“…The medical literature is vast in terms of qualitative description of the coronary system [54][55][56], but quantitative information is more likely presented in terms of simple variables [50,51]. The arrival of highly detailed models of the human circulatory system [57,58] is a clear example of scientific research exploiting morphometric information. In this section, we provide statistics and quantification of the geometric features introduced in Section 2.5.…”