Flow Dynamics and Wall Shear Stresses in a Bifurcated Femoral Artery

Abstract

The present paper presents peak wall shear stresses and velocities in a bifurcated femoral artery. This artery is modeled along with blockage downstream of bifurcation, blockage at bifurcation, blockage downstream of stented femoral artery. The femoral artery is subjected to peripheral artery disease. A two-dimensional computational fluid dynamic analysis is conducted in all the models, assuming steady blood flow and seventy percent plaque. However, the blood viscosity and blood pressure vary in the femoral artery models as they are subjected to other medical conditions. Femoral artery bifurcates into profunda femoris and the bifurcation angles are assumed to vary at 30, 45 and 60 degrees. The blocked bifurcated artery is replaced with a wall stent and in many cases, a blockage develops downstream of the bifurcated stented artery as a consequence of stent implantation. The wall shear stresses and velocities results from the bifurcated and blocked femoral arterial models are compared to a normal artery characteristic. Further, a comparative study has been conducted along the blocked bifurcated artery with and without the stent.

Comparison of Hemodynamic Performances Between Commercial Available Stents Design on Stenosed Femoropopliteal Artery

“…However, when the shear stress exceeds 70 dynes/cm², the formation of the thrombosis will likely to occur. Gogineni, further narrated in his study that the maximum shear stress in the bifurcated stented region of femoral artery is 12 Pa [22]. The simulation of the wall shear stress distributions along the stented artery with nine different stents design in this study simulates average arterial pressure.…”

Computing patient-specific hemodynamics in stented femoral artery models obtained from computed tomography using a validated 3D reconstruction method

“…Abnormal hemodynamics has been deemed a contributing factor for restenosis in different cardiovascular regions [36][37][38]. Until now, few CFD studies have focused on diseased femoral arterial segments [24,[39][40][41]. In most of those studies [39][40][41], idealized geometrical models were employed to investigate hemodynamic descriptors such as WSS, oscillatory shear index and particle residence time, or the effect of the lesion location along the femoral artery.…”

“…Until now, few CFD studies have focused on diseased femoral arterial segments [24,[39][40][41]. In most of those studies [39][40][41], idealized geometrical models were employed to investigate hemodynamic descriptors such as WSS, oscillatory shear index and particle residence time, or the effect of the lesion location along the femoral artery. Realistic vessel curvature and tortuosity, factors particularly present in the SFA [42], were not modeled.…”

Impact of lower limb movement on the hemodynamics of femoropopliteal arteries: A computational study

“…At the present, the hemodynamics of patient-specific femoral arteries has been mainly analysed in straight leg configurations [11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18]. The main reason for this is that the geometrical models are reconstructed by means of techniques such as computed tomography or magnetic resonance imaging, for which the standard clinical protocol imposes the leg to be straight [16].…”

“…However, at the present the majority of studies have focused on coronary and carotid arteries rather than FPA. Only in the last 15 years, the interest for the FPA hemodynamics has emerged, with an increasing number of computational studies [11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18]. Different models of straight and bent FPA were developed to investigate the impact of relevant structural effects, such as kinking and pinching, on hemodynamics [17,18].…”