AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE ACOUSTIC RESPONSE OF DISEASED ARTERIAL PULSE WAVEFORMS

摘要

Aneurysm is a major contributing factor to death and disability worldwide. This research explores the concept of using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) as a cost effective and non-invasive method to detect the location and condition of diseased segments of blood vessels. In this study, 12 different abdominal aortic aneurysms cases and a controlled case of 3D coupled fluid-structure interaction scheme (FSI) are modeled. Pulse waves travelling through these segments are analyzed with a focus on the reflected waves at diseased region and the brachial artery. A commercial software ANSYS 12.1® is used to solve FSI models. An invasive catheter pulsatile pressure waveforms data is imposed at the inlet and the four outlets of the aorta and also used to validate the presented models. The results show that an increase in the diameter of aneurysmal artery will have an effect on the systolic and diastolic pressure at the brachial artery. The systolic pressure increases due to the forward pulse wave resulting from aneurysm. However, diastolic pressure decreases due to the delay of the backward waves which reach at the brachial artery. These models show that the forward and backward waves, which can be attributed to changes in the diameter of the abdominal aorta, may be useful in diagnosing cardiovascular diseases non-invasively.