TY - JOUR
T1 - 3D MRI-based multicomponent FSI models for atherosclerotic plaques
AU - Tang, Dalin
AU - Yang, Chun
AU - Zheng, Jie
AU - Woodard, Pamela K.
AU - Sicard, Gregorio A.
AU - Saffitz, Jeffrey E.
AU - Yuan, Chun
N1 - Funding Information:
This research was supported in part by NSF Grant No. DMS-0072873 and a grant from the Rockefeller Foundation. J Zheng is supported in part by a Charles E. Culpeper Biomedical Pilot initiative Grant No. 01-273. Dr Thomas Pilgram (Washington University) provided professional help for statistical analysis. The authors thank Prof Roger D. Kamm (MIT) for his professional advice and helpful discussion in this research.
PY - 2004/7
Y1 - 2004/7
N2 - A three-dimensional (3D) MRI-based computational model with multicomponent plaque structure and fluid-structure interactions (FSI) is introduced to perform mechanical analysis for human atherosclerotic plaques and identify critical flow and stress/strain conditions which may be related to plaque rupture. Three-dimensional geometry of a human carotid plaque was reconstructed from 3D MR images and computational mesh was generated using Visualization Toolkit. Both the artery wall and the plaque components were assumed to be hyperelastic, isotropic, incompressible, and homogeneous. The flow was assumed to be laminar, Newtonian, viscous, and incompressible. The fully coupled fluid and structure models were solved by ADINA, a well-tested finite element package. Results from two-dimensional (2D) and 3D models, based on ex vivo MRI and histological images (HI), with different component sizes and plaque cap thickness, under different pressure and axial stretch conditions, were obtained and compared. Our results indicate that large lipid pools and thin plaque caps are associated with both extreme maximum (stretch) and minimum (compression when negative) stress/strain levels. Large cyclic stress/strain variations in the plaque under pulsating pressure were observed which may lead to artery fatigue and possible plaque rupture. Large-scale patient studies are needed to validate the computational findings for possible plaque vulnerability assessment and rupture predictions.
AB - A three-dimensional (3D) MRI-based computational model with multicomponent plaque structure and fluid-structure interactions (FSI) is introduced to perform mechanical analysis for human atherosclerotic plaques and identify critical flow and stress/strain conditions which may be related to plaque rupture. Three-dimensional geometry of a human carotid plaque was reconstructed from 3D MR images and computational mesh was generated using Visualization Toolkit. Both the artery wall and the plaque components were assumed to be hyperelastic, isotropic, incompressible, and homogeneous. The flow was assumed to be laminar, Newtonian, viscous, and incompressible. The fully coupled fluid and structure models were solved by ADINA, a well-tested finite element package. Results from two-dimensional (2D) and 3D models, based on ex vivo MRI and histological images (HI), with different component sizes and plaque cap thickness, under different pressure and axial stretch conditions, were obtained and compared. Our results indicate that large lipid pools and thin plaque caps are associated with both extreme maximum (stretch) and minimum (compression when negative) stress/strain levels. Large cyclic stress/strain variations in the plaque under pulsating pressure were observed which may lead to artery fatigue and possible plaque rupture. Large-scale patient studies are needed to validate the computational findings for possible plaque vulnerability assessment and rupture predictions.
KW - Blood flow
KW - Cardiovascular diseases
KW - Carotid artery
KW - Fluid-structure interaction
KW - Heart attack
KW - Plaque cap rupture
KW - Stenosis
KW - Stroke
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=3843115488&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1023/B:ABME.0000032457.10191.e0
DO - 10.1023/B:ABME.0000032457.10191.e0
M3 - Article
C2 - 15298432
AN - SCOPUS:3843115488
SN - 0090-6964
VL - 32
SP - 947
EP - 960
JO - Annals of biomedical engineering
JF - Annals of biomedical engineering
IS - 7
ER -