Numerical modeling in arterial hemodynamics incorporating fluid-structure interaction and microcirculation.

BACKGROUND: The effects of arterial wall compliance on blood flow have been revealed using fluid-structure interaction in last decades. However, microcirculation is not considered in previous researches. In fact, microcirculation plays a key role in regulating blood flow. Therefore, it is very necessary to involve microcirculation in arterial hemodynamics.

OBJECTIVE: The main purpose of the present study is to investigate how wall compliance affects the flow characteristics and to establish the comparisons of these flow variables with rigid wall when microcirculation is considered.

METHODS: We present numerical modeling in arterial hemodynamics incorporating fluid-structure interaction and microcirculation. A novel outlet boundary condition is employed to prescribe microcirculation in an idealised model.

RESULTS: The novel finding in this work is that wall compliance under the consideration of microcirculation leads to the increase of wall shear stress in contrast to rigid wall, contrary to the traditional result that wall compliance makes wall shear stress decrease when a constant or time dependent pressure is specified at an outlet.

CONCLUSIONS: This work provides the valuable study of hemodynamics under physiological and realistic boundary conditions and proves that wall compliance may have a positive impact on wall shear stress based on this model. This methodology in this paper could be used in real model simulations.