Modelling of coronary artery stenosis and study of hemodynamic under the influence of magnetic fields

Comput Biol Med. 2024 Nov 25:184:109464. doi: 10.1016/j.compbiomed.2024.109464. Online ahead of print.

Abstract

Investigating magnetic blood flow characteristics through arteries and micron-size channels for clinical therapies in biomedicine is becoming increasingly important with the rise of point-of-care diagnostics devices. A computational fluid dynamics (CFD) investigation is conducted to explore blood flow within a coronary artery affected by an elliptical stenosis near the artery wall under the influence of a magnetic field. The novelty of our study is the integration of Navier-Stokes and Maxwell's equations to calculate body forces on fluid flow, coupled with the application of magnetic fields both longitudinally and vertically, and the use of the Carreau-Yasuda model to analyse non-Newtonian blood rheology. Blood flow is modelled by solving the incompressible continuity and momentum equations, considering laminar and non-Newtonian properties, with the finite element-based solver COMSOL Multiphysics. The CFD model is validated using previously published analytical and computational data. This study investigates the effects of magnetic fields on blood flow through stenotic arteries with 25 %, 35 %, and 50 % stenosis, examining how the magnetic field and its orientation impact variations in velocity profiles, pressure drop, and wall shear stress (WSS). Our results show that magnetic fields can effectively manipulate blood flow, causing acceleration or deceleration depending on field direction. Significant changes in hemodynamics are observed, particularly at 50 % arterial stenosis, highlighting the profound impact of stenosis on flow characteristics. Compared to healthy arteries, the velocity change in stenosed arteries increased by 16.5 %, 29.4 %, and 62.1 % for 25 %, 35 %, and 50 % stenosis, respectively. The findings advance experimental models of blood flow in magnetic fields, highlighting the critical importance of regulating blood velocity and pressure. These insights are particularly valuable for developing drug delivery systems and magnetic-driven blood pumps.

Keywords: Artery stenosis; Computational fluid dynamics (CFD); Hemodynamics; Magnetic fields; Maxwell's equations; Navier Stokes equations.