Magnetic field interaction with blood flow and heat transfer through diseased artery having Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm

Abstract Unsteady magnetohydrodynamic flow of blood and heat transfer characteristics are numerically simulated with an aim to understand the flow pattern in a diseased arterial segment having Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm (AAA). Thermal energy equation has been analyzed by considering dissipation of energy due to applied magnetic field and the viscosity of blood. Vorticity–stream function formulation is used for numerical simulation in the diseased artery. Different stages of enlargement of AAA is very significant in understanding the cause and progression of vascular diseases due to the formation of large vortex rings in the aneurysm region which interacts with the arterial wall. This lead to the generation of WSS which drastically differ by a magnitude of 37% in 50% AAA and 18% in 10% AAA in comparison with the value in a healthy abdominal aorta in the laminar flow. With increase in Reynolds number, mild AAA also become harmful as it exhibits higher WSS increase percentage in comparison with a healthy arterial segment. The vorticity, streamlines and temperature contours are plotted to have a better understanding of the flow characteristics. Qualitative as well as quantitative profiles of wall shear stress and Nusselt number are plotted and determined that both increases with the effect of magnetic field strength. Moreover, shear stress decreases with increasing Reynolds number whereas it increases with increasing size of the aneurysm. The area of low WSS region inside the aneurysm reduces when exposed to magnetic field strength and makes the arterial state less pathological. Furthermore, Nusselt number has an enhancing effect on both Reynolds number and Prandtl number. The results have significant bearing in medical sciences for assessing temperature rise during hyperthermic treatment of tumor and drug delivery system with magnetic nanoparticles in the diseased artery.