Development of Mathematical Approach to Studying Cholesterol Deposition in an Artery

Abstract

Atherosclerosis is an inflammatory disease that affects major arteries of the human vasculature. It is associated with hardened arteries in which plaque builds up, thus establishing an area of stenosis characterized by narrowing of the cross-sectional area for blood flow. Atherosclerosis is a serious medical condition that can lead to a variety of health complications and even death. A contributing factor in the growth and development of stenosis is the rheological behavior of  blood. Modeling that couples blood flow hemodynamics to the convective-diffusive transport of cholesterol inside the human arteries is limited. This may be due in part to the increased difficulty in dealing with the non-Newtonian behaviors of blood such as the effects of shear rate on blood viscosity. In this work, a hydrodynamic analysis of the blood flow in an arterial stenosis domain is presented.  Both Newtonian and Power-Law Models of blood rheology are used to determine the blood velocity profile inside a realistic stenosis domain, and comparisons are made. When combined with equations describing cholesterol deposition, the results are fundamentally useful to predict cholesterol deposition in the artery via different fluid flow models. Also, the results of this analysis indicate that in addition to the common parameters such as stenosis size, blood flow rate, stenosis height, and blood viscosity, the latter is the most significant factor which has a substantial effect on the stenosis region. Ultimately, this work is a step forward towards the development of novel therapeutic and diagnostic approaches for atherosclerosis.