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From Detection to Rupture: A Serial Computational Fluid Dynamics Case Study of a Rapidly Expanding, Patient-Specific, Ruptured Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm

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Computational Biomechanics for Medicine

Abstract

Computational hemodynamic studies of abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) can help elucidate the mechanisms responsible for growth and development. The aim of this work is to determine if AAAs expand and develop intraluminal thrombus (ILT) in regions of low wall shear stress (WSS) predicted with computational fluid dynamics (CFD). Computed tomography (CT) data of an AAA was acquired at four time-points over 2.5 years, from the time of detection to immediately prior to rupture. We used 3D unsteady, laminar, CFD models to investigate the hemodynamics at each time-point. Our three-dimensional reconstructions showed that the primary region of expansion was in the proximal lobe, which not only coincided with the main region of low time-averaged WSS (TAWSS) in our CFD simulations, but also with the development of ILT in vivo. Interestingly, this region was also the rupture location. This is the first serial computational study of an AAA and the work has shown the potential of CFD to model the changing hemodynamics and the relation with ILT development and AAA growth.

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Acknowledgments

We would like to thank: Stephen Broderick, Gráinne Carroll, and Adrian Lynch, University of Limerick, Ireland, for their very useful insights into CFD; David Molony, Georgia Institute of Technology, USA, for his assistance with the TAWSS post-processing; Pierce Grace, University Hospital Limerick, Ireland; and Pankaj Pankaj, The University of Edinburgh, UK.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Intelligent Systems for Medicine Laboratory, School of Mechanical and Chemical Engineering, The University of Western Australia, Crawley, Perth, Australia

    Barry J. Doyle

  2. Centre for Cardiovascular Science, The University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK

    Barry J. Doyle & Peter R. Hoskins

  3. Centre for Applied Biomedical Engineering Research (CABER), Department of Mechanical, Aeronautical and Biomedical Engineering, and Materials and Surface Science Institute, University of Limerick, Limerick, Ireland

    Timothy M. McGloughlin

  4. Department of Biomedical Engineering, Khalifa University of Science, Technology & Research (KUSTAR), Abu Dhabi, UAE

    Timothy M. McGloughlin

  5. Department of Vascular Surgery, University Hospital Limerick, Limerick, Ireland

    Eamon G. Kavanagh

  6. Department of Mechanical, Aeronautical and Biomedical Engineering, University of Limerick, Limerick, Ireland

    Peter R. Hoskins

Authors
  1. Barry J. Doyle
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  2. Timothy M. McGloughlin
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  3. Eamon G. Kavanagh
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  4. Peter R. Hoskins
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Barry J. Doyle .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Intelligent Systems for Medicine Laboratory, The University of Western Australia, Perth, West Australia, Australia

    Barry Doyle

  2. Intelligent Systems for Medicine Laboratory, The University of Western Australia, Perth, West Australia, Australia

    Karol Miller

  3. Intelligent Systems for Medicine Laboratory, The University of Western Australia, Perth, West Australia, Australia

    Adam Wittek

  4. Auckland Bioengineering Institute, The University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand

    Poul M.F. Nielsen

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Doyle, B.J., McGloughlin, T.M., Kavanagh, E.G., Hoskins, P.R. (2014). From Detection to Rupture: A Serial Computational Fluid Dynamics Case Study of a Rapidly Expanding, Patient-Specific, Ruptured Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm. In: Doyle, B., Miller, K., Wittek, A., Nielsen, P. (eds) Computational Biomechanics for Medicine. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-0745-8_5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-0745-8_5

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4939-0744-1

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4939-0745-8

  • eBook Packages: EngineeringEngineering (R0)

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