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A computational investigation of occlusive arterial thrombosis

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Abstract

The generation of occlusive thrombi in stenotic arteries involves the rapid deposition of millions of circulating platelets under high shear flow. The process is mediated by the formation of molecular bonds of several distinct types between platelets; the bonds capture the moving platelets and stabilize the growing thrombi under flow. We investigated the mechanisms behind occlusive thrombosis in arteries with a two-phase continuum model. The model explicitly tracks the formation and rupture of the two types of interplatelet bonds, the rates of which are coupled with the local flow conditions. The motion of platelets in the thrombi results from competition between the viscoelastic forces generated by the interplatelet bonds and the fluid drag. Our simulation results indicate that stable occlusive thrombi form only under specific combinations for the ranges of model parameters such as rates of bond formation and rupture, platelet activation time, and number of bonds required for platelet attachment.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank David N. Ku for helpful discussions about arterial thrombosis.

Funding

Funding for the project was provided in part by NSF Grant DMS-1716898 and NIH Grant 1R01HL151984–01.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mathematical Sciences, Florida Institute of Technology, 150 W. University BLVD, Melbourne, FL, 32901, USA

    Jian Du

  2. Departments of Mathematics and Biomedical Engineering, University of Utah, 155 South 1400 East, Salt Lake City, UT, 84112, USA

    Aaron L. Fogelson

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  1. Jian Du
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  2. Aaron L. Fogelson
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Contributions

JD and AF contributed to the development of the model and computational methods, and the design of the computational simulations. JD carried out the simulations. JD and AF analyzed the results and wrote and edited the paper.

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Correspondence to Jian Du.

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The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

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Du, J., Fogelson, A.L. A computational investigation of occlusive arterial thrombosis. Biomech Model Mechanobiol 23, 157–178 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10237-023-01765-8

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