| Abstract: |
| Arteriovenous grafting (AVG) is a common device applied in hemodialysis for kidney failure patients. It is often failed because of the intimal hyperplasia formed around the AVG anastomosis. In order to help understand the mechanism of the formation of intimal hyperplasia, we investigate the flow patterns in the AVG anastomosis and forces distribution on the vein near the anastomosis by modeling and simulation. The anastomosis structure (graft and vein) is modeled by elastic fibers. The surrounding tissue is modeled by elastic springs. The blood is modeled by viscous incompressible flow and the flow is numerically simulated by the lattice-Boltzmann method. The fluid-structure-interaction is treated by the immersed-boundary method. We perform a series of simulations using different flow Reynolds numbers, different AVG configuration including attached angles and vein-graft diameter ratio. Both rigid and deformable cases are considered. Flow fields are visualized and compared. Wall shear stress, wall normal stress, etc. on the vein/AVG are computed and analyzed. |
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