Numerical Analysis of Blood Flow Through Discrete Stenosis: Role of Eccentricity and Spacing Ratio

Stenosis or narrowing of arteries induces a turbulent flow region downstream. Multiple stenosis may lead to flow interference and further disturb the blood flow. This has important clinical implications [1], such as disturbed blood flow and flow recirculation which were correlated with the development of atherosclerosis by upregulating the endothelial cells genes and proteins that cause atherogenesis [2]. Numerical simulation of concentric stenoses by Lee et al [3] have shown that the recirculation zone following the first concentric stenosis affected the flow field at the downstream of the second one, which was dependent on the spacing ratio and degree of stenosis. However, the majority of stenosis is eccentric [2] and the detailed fluid dynamics of multiple stenoses with eccentric constrictions is lacking. The aim of this study is to investigate the interactions between double stenoses with eccentricity using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation. The role of spacing ratio on the recirculation zone and turbulence intensity (TI) were characterized and also compared to concentric cases.