Pulsatile flow interaction with a stented artery : compliance mismatch effects

Abstract

Atherosclerosis is a group of diseases characterized by thickening of the arterial wall resulting in a reduction in the cross-sectional area of the lumen. One of treatments for these artery diseases is stent angioplasty. In general, the stent has the role of supporting the arterial wall for increase blood flow areas. It is believed that this compliance mismatch affects both the vessel hemodynamics and wall mechanics. To investigate the effects of compliance mismatch on blood flow in a nonlinear artery/stent system in the hope of achieving a better understanding of the influence of the artery/stent wall elasticity and geometric parameters on haemodynamics and wall mechanics of stented vessel, a fully coupled fluid-structure interaction analysis of pulsatile blood flow in a simplified model (an axisymmetric thin tube) is presented in this study.