Fluid Dynamic Approach to Aortic Stenosis

Stenosis of a human artery is characterized by a decrease in the cross-sectional area and consequent obstruction of blood flow. In an attempt to contribute to a better understanding of an arterial stenosis rate of growth and the effects caused on blood flow, a computational fluid dynamics approach was applied to represent blood flow. Solving Mass and Momentum Equations allows us to proceed with an analysis of the velocity profiles and the assessment of shear stress in the fluid. This study intends to contribute to a better understanding of the growth of stenosis and develop an approach that can indirectly contribute to the treatment and prevention of cardiovascular diseases such as thrombosis. In this scientific research, the behavior of blood flow was analyzed according to the physical, chemical, and biological characteristics of the human body in a growing human stenosis. In this way, we sought to characterize through the velocity profiles, the rheological behavior of blood in an obstructed artery. The Newtonian model was compared with the non-Newtonian Casson rheological model. The solver nonNewtonianIcoFoam from the OpenFOAM free software was used to solve the differential equations. The results made it possible to evaluate blood flow through a pressure and velocity field for specific stenotic configurations and under variations of the velocity distribution profile at the inlet. The shear stress result is a very important parameter for evaluating the critical stage of growth in human stenosis.