Lagrangian analysis of turbulent blood flow in the human left heart

TL;DR

This study uses high-fidelity simulations to analyze turbulent blood flow in the human left heart through a Lagrangian approach, revealing complex flow intermittency and potential for medical device assessment.

Contribution

It introduces a Lagrangian analysis framework for turbulent cardiovascular flow using patient-specific models and coupled simulations, enhancing understanding of flow dynamics and blood damage.

Findings

Strong Lagrangian intermittency observed in heart flow

Flow statistics are sensitive to physiological parameters

Potential applications in modeling blood cell damage and device evaluation

Abstract

We present a Lagrangian analysis of turbulent blood flow in the human left heart using high-fidelity simulations based on a patient-specific anatomical model. Leveraging a fully coupled fluid-structure-electrophysiology interaction (FSEI) framework, we track the motion of Lagrangian (passive) tracers to investigate the multiscale statistical properties of velocity fluctuations over more than four decades. Our analysis reveals strong Lagrangian intermittency throughout the left heart, reflecting the complex and unsteady nature of cardiovascular flow. The present work underscores the sensitivity of Lagrangian statistics to physiological parameters and highlights their potential for improving the understanding of pathological flow conditions in cardiovascular systems. Such Lagrangian tool provides a statistical foundation for modeling shear-induced damage in red blood cells (hemolysis), with implications for the evaluation of prosthetic valves and blood-contacting medical devices.