Efficient modelling of blood transport through vascular systems

With cardiovascular disease being a leading cause of death worldwide, there’s a need for improved effectiveness and efficiency of graft solutions, in particular tissue-engineered vascular grafts (TEVGs) and stents. Understanding the interactions between the blood flow and the vessel wall characteristics is key to optimise the design of TEVGs and/or stents. The aim of this research is to develop a computationally efficient numerical model based on the lattice Boltzmann method (LBM) – Coarse Grained (CG) model to investigate the interactions between blood flow and native vessel walls as well as with TEVG. Such interactions are difficult and time consuming to obtain experimentally. Numerical models in clinical setting can be used alternatively, given it is computationally-efficient and accurate, whilst simple to apply. Complying with these qualities is not easy, however, can be made possible using LBM-CG where constituent components of blood and their individual interaction with the TEVG and/or vessel wall, can be modelled and measured. The present study is intended to present advancements in the modelling of vascular systems that will contribute to the optimisation of TEVG designs and thus support reducing the fatalities due to cardiovascular disease.