Pulsatile Flow in the Artery with Stenosis

The arterial stenosis related to the intimal thickening of the arterial wall is the main cause of many diseases in human cardiovascular system. Hemodynamic behavior of the blood flow is influenced by the presence of the arterial stenosis. In this study, effects of the pulsatile flow, caused by the periodic motion of the heart, on the blood flow and its interaction with the arterial stenosis are analyzed by the FEM-based computational fluid dynamics. As a result, it was found that the characteristics of the pulsatile flow in the artery with stenosis are quite different from those of the steady flow. And, the pulsatile flow condition affects the wall shear stress, which is one of the most important physiological parameters in the hemodynamics.