Considering the Influence of Coronary Motion on Artery-Specific Biomechanics Using Fluid–Structure Interaction Simulation

• Published in: Annals of biomedical engineering Vol. 51; no. 9; pp. 1950 - 1964
• Main Authors: Fogell, Nicholas A. T., Patel, Miten, Yang, Pan, Ruis, Roosje M., Garcia, David B., Naser, Jarka, Savvopoulos, Fotios, Davies Taylor, Clint, Post, Anouk L., Pedrigi, Ryan M., de Silva, Ranil, Krams, Rob
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Cham Springer International Publishing 01.09.2023; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Arteries; Bending; Biochemistry; Biological and Medical Physics; Biomechanical Phenomena; Biomechanics; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Biomedical Engineering and Bioengineering; Biomedicine; Biophysics; Boundary conditions; Classical Mechanics; Computer Simulation; Coronary artery; Coronary vessels; Coronary Vessels - physiology; Endothelium; Fluid-structure interaction; Heart; Hemodynamics; Models, Cardiovascular; Original; Original Article; Shear stress; Strain; Stress, Mechanical; Veins & arteries; Wall shear stresses; Coronary bending; Shear stress; Endothelial strain; Coronary biomechanics; Computational fluid dynamics
• ISSN: 0090-6964; 1573-9686; 1573-9686
• DOI: 10.1007/s10439-023-03214-0

The endothelium in the coronary arteries is subject to wall shear stress and vessel wall strain, which influences the biology of the arterial wall. This study presents vessel-specific fluid–structure interaction (FSI) models of three coronary arteries, using directly measured experimental geometries and boundary conditions. FSI models are used to provide a more physiologically complete representation of vessel biomechanics, and have been extended to include coronary bending to investigate its effect on shear and strain. FSI both without- and with-bending resulted in significant changes in all computed shear stress metrics compared to CFD ( p  = 0.0001). Inclusion of bending within the FSI model produced highly significant changes in Time Averaged Wall Shear Stress (TAWSS) + 9.8% LAD, + 8.8% LCx, − 2.0% RCA; Oscillatory Shear Index (OSI) + 208% LAD, 0% LCx, + 2600% RCA; and transverse wall Shear Stress (tSS) + 180% LAD, + 150% LCx and + 200% RCA (all p  < 0.0001). Vessel wall strain was homogenous in all directions without-bending but became highly anisotropic under bending. Changes in median cyclic strain magnitude were seen for all three vessels in every direction. Changes shown in the magnitude and distribution of shear stress and wall strain suggest that bending should be considered on a vessel-specific basis in analyses of coronary artery biomechanics.