Fluid-structure interaction model of blood flow in abdominal aortic aneurysms with thermic treatment

Hyperthermia is one of the non-invasive therapy of an Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm (AAA), which is achieved by applying a heat source upon the AAA without surgical operation. This research paper considers laminar flow and heat transfer in a heated abdominal aortic aneurysm using an isothermal boundary condition. Heat is added to explicate the thermal treatment of a dis-eased artery. The blood is assumed as a non-Newtonian fluid based on the shear-thinning Carreau model. Two unequal aneurysms are assumed in the lower wall to simulate bulges or a disordered artery. Flexible wall segments are assumed in the upper wall and opposing to each aneurysm. The transient momentum and energy equations are solved based on the fluid-structure interaction (FSI) using the Arbitrary-Lagrangian-Eulerian (ALE) method. It is found that the shear stress is much higher for a higher index of the power-law fluid governing the blood viscosity and hence, it is strictly recommended to reduce the viscous nature of the blood in diseased vessels. It is found also that the thermal energy can be greatly transported across the blood at a higher Reynolds num-ber, this means that the hyperthermia therapy becomes effective when blood flows violently through the aortic.(c) 2022 THE AUTHORS. Published by Elsevier BV on behalf of Faculty of Engineering, Alexandria University. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/ licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

Automated summary

This research investigates the non-invasive hyperthermia therapy for abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA), and analyzes the heat transfer and laminar flow in a heated AAA using an isothermal boundary condition. The study finds that reducing the viscous nature of blood in diseased vessels is recommended, as higher shear stress is observed for a higher index of the power-law fluid governing blood viscosity. Moreover, the study shows that the hyperthermia therapy becomes more effective when blood flows violently through the aortic, allowing for enhanced thermal energy transportation.