title: Effect of swirling blood flow on vortex formation at post-stenosis.
abstract: Various clinical observations reported that swirling blood flow is a normal physiological flow pattern in various vasculatures. The swirling flow has beneficial effects on blood circulation through the blood vessels. It enhances oxygen transfer and reduces low-density lipoprotein concentration in the blood vessel by enhancing cross-plane mixing of the blood. However, the fluid-dynamic roles of the swirling flow are not yet fully understood. In this study, inhibition of material deposition at the post-stenosis region by the swirling flow was observed. To reveal the underlying fluid-dynamic characteristics, pathline flow visualization and time-resolved particle image velocimetry measurements were conducted. Results showed that the swirling inlet flow increased the development of vortices at near wall region of the post-stenosis, which can suppress further development of stenosis by enhancing transport and mixing of the blood flow. The fluid-dynamic characteristics obtained in this study would be useful for improving hemodynamic characteristics of vascular grafts and stents in which the stenosis frequently occurred. Moreover, the time-resolved particle image velocimetry measurement technique and vortex identification method employed in this study would be useful for investigating the fluid-dynamic effects of the swirling flow on various vascular environments.
authors.affiliation: Department of Mechanical Engineering, Pohang University of Science and Technology, Pohang, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Hojin
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ha
authors.affiliation: Department of Mechanical Engineering, Pohang University of Science and Technology, Pohang, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Woorak
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Choi
authors.affiliation: Department of Mechanical Engineering, Pohang University of Science and Technology, Pohang, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Hanwook
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Park
authors.affiliation: Center for Biofluid and Biomimic Research, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Pohang University of Science and Technology, Pohang, Republic of Korea sjlee@postech.ac.kr.
authors.forename: Sang Joon
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Lee
mesh_terms: D000465:Algorithms; D003251:Constriction, Pathologic / Q000503:physiopathology; D006439:Hemodynamics / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008955:Models, Cardiovascular; D011673:Pulsatile Flow / Q000502:physiology*; D014652:Vascular Diseases / Q000503:physiopathology
keywords: Swirling flow; hemodynamics; particle image velocimetry; stenosis; vortex