Title: Investigation of magnetic field effect on pulsatile blood flow through the atherosclerotic right coronary artery

Authors: Siavash Ghaffari; Mohammad Sadegh Karimi; Seyed Ali Madani Tonekaboni

Addresses: School of Mechanical Engineering, College of Engineering, University of Tehran, P.C.: 14568-14551, Tehran, Iran ' School of Mechanical Engineering, College of Engineering, University of Tehran, P.C.: 14568-14551, Tehran, Iran ' School of Mechanical Engineering, College of Engineering, University of Tehran, P.C.: 14568-14551, Tehran, Iran

Abstract: In the present work, flow characteristics of blood flow in the atherosclerotic right coronary artery in the presence of bi-directional magnetic field are investigated with numerical methods. The right coronary artery is one of two blood vessels that branch from the aorta and carry oxygen-rich blood to the heart muscle. Blockage of any branch of the coronary arteries causes death of a portion of the heart. A mathematical modelling is applied to analyse the pulsatile blood flow. Transient Navier-Stokes equations in 2D idealised arterial models of a bending artery coupled with Maxwell's equations for obtaining effect of magnetic field are discretised using the finite-volume method and solved by SIMPLE algorithm in curvilinear coordinate. The magnetic field is applied in both x and y directions. The amount of wall shear stress on the surface of atherosclerotic plaque is obtained for various times, and different states of magnetic field. Therefore, it is observed that how magnetic field modifies the flow patterns and decreases the destructive effects of atherosclerotic plaque.

Keywords: atherosclerotic arteries; bi-directional magnetic field; curvilinear coordinate; pulsatile flow; magnetic field effect; pulsatile blood flow; right coronary artery; mathematical modelling; Navier-Stokes equations; idealised arterial models; bending arteries; Maxwell equations; finite volume method; FVM; wall shear stress; flow patterns; atherosclerotic plaque.

DOI: 10.1504/PCFD.2015.070438

Progress in Computational Fluid Dynamics, An International Journal, 2015 Vol.15 No.4, pp.236 - 246

Published online: 06 Jul 2015 *

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