RESUMO
BACKGROUND: Systolic blood flow has been simulated in the abdominal aorta and the superior mesenteric artery. The simulations were carried out using two different computational hemodynamic methods: the finite element method to solve the Navier Stokes equations and the lattice Boltzmann method. RESULTS: We have validated the lattice Boltzmann method for systolic flows by comparing the velocity and pressure profiles of simulated blood flow between methods. We have also analyzed flow-specific characteristics such as the formation of a vortex at curvatures and traces of flow. CONCLUSION: The lattice Boltzmann Method is as accurate as a Navier Stokes solver for computing complex blood flows. As such it is a good alternative for computational hemodynamics, certainly in situation where coupling to other models is required.
Assuntos
Artérias Mesentéricas/anatomia & histologia , Modelos Cardiovasculares , Algoritmos , Aorta Abdominal/anatomia & histologia , Aorta Abdominal/fisiologia , Engenharia Biomédica , Velocidade do Fluxo Sanguíneo/fisiologia , Simulação por Computador , Análise de Elementos Finitos , Hemodinâmica , Humanos , Artérias Mesentéricas/fisiologia , Modelos Estatísticos , Software , Sístole , Fatores de TempoRESUMO
We simulate time harmonic flows by the lattice Boltzmann method. We propose a general scheme to choose simulation parameters, under the constraints of fixed Reynolds and Womersley numbers, and with a specified simulation error. Under these constraints parameters are chosen to minimize the execution time. Numerical stability is studied in a range of Reynolds and Womersley numbers. As an example of time harmonic flow simulations, results of blood flow in a human abdominal aorta are presented.
