Patient-Scale Blood Flow Analysis in Artery Stent Implantation via Smoothed-Particle Hydrodynamics

TL;DR

This paper introduces a comprehensive SPH simulation framework for analyzing blood flow and stent-artery interactions in coronary arteries, validated through benchmarks and applied to assess post-stent implantation hemodynamics.

Contribution

It develops a unified, multi-resolution SPH framework that accurately models hemodynamics, solid mechanics, and contact interactions in coronary stent procedures.

Findings

Flow acceleration at stenosis identified

Pressure gradients reduced after stent placement

Fractional flow reserve improved from 0.45 to 0.91

Abstract

A unified Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics (SPH) simulation framework for coronary stent implantation is developed, which unifies weakly compressible hemodynamics, Neo-Hookean solids, and stent-artery contacts, based on a multi-resolution particle discretization. Prior to application, feasibility and accuracy are established via three baseline validations: (i) poiseuille flow in a two-dimensional channel with prescribed parabolic inflow and a pressure outlet, maintaining parabolic profiles with low Root Mean Squared Error of Prediction (RMSEP); (ii) channel flow initialized with a uniform velocity field and driven by a specified inlet-outlet pressure differential, with agreement to reference profiles quantified by low RMSEP at five reference instants; and (iii) a three-ring impact benchmark in solid mechanics, capturing large deformation, multi-body contact, and self-contact. The validated framework is subsequently applied to a coronary bifurcation with a focal stenosis, where flow-field diagnostics reveal acceleration at the stenotic throat, near-wall low-velocity zones, and co-localization of elevated pressure with increased Von Mises stress at the bifurcation and inlet. Following simulated stent implantation, velocity transitions across the stenosis become smoother, pressure gradients are reduced, and the fractional flow reserve increases from 0.45 to 0.91. These results demonstrate that the proposed SPH framework yields quantitatively reliable, clinically interpretable hemodynamic metrics alongside robust solid-solid contact predictions, thereby supporting rigorous analysis and pre-procedural planning of vascular interventions.