Hemodynamic Simulation in the Aortic Arch Under Anemic Diabetic and Healthy Blood Flow Conditions Using Computational Fluid Dynamics

TL;DR

This study uses computational fluid dynamics to analyze how blood rheology affects flow patterns in the aortic arch under anemic, diabetic, and healthy conditions, revealing distinct hemodynamic behaviors linked to blood properties.

Contribution

It introduces a CFD-based approach to compare blood flow in different pathological and healthy states, emphasizing the impact of blood viscosity and rheology on vascular stress.

Findings

Anemic blood flow shows reduced WSS and pressure gradients.

Diabetic blood exhibits increased flow resistance and localized flow separation.

Healthy blood flow maintains physiological hemodynamic parameters.

Abstract

This study investigates the hemodynamic behavior of blood flow in the aortic arch across anemic, diabetic, and healthy conditions using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations with a non-Newtonian Carreau viscosity model. Velocity fields, pressure distributions, and wall shear stress (WSS) patterns were analyzed to assess the impact of blood rheology and vessel geometry. Anemic blood, with low viscosity and hematocrit, produced smooth, low-resistance flow with reduced WSS and pressure gradients, potentially impairing perfusion. Diabetic blood exhibited elevated viscosity, leading to increased flow resistance, higher WSS, and localized separation at arterial branches -- conditions associated with vascular stress and remodeling. Healthy cases showed balanced hemodynamic behavior with localized flow acceleration but maintained physiological ranges. These findings highlight the mechanistic links between rheological properties and cardiovascular stress, supporting the role of CFD in non-invasive vascular risk assessment and motivating future integration of patient-specific data and structural modeling for enhanced clinical relevance.