CFD Simulation of the Portal Vein Blood Flow

A precise quantification of the blood flow in vessels under normal or abnormal conditions could constitute a strong basis for diagnosis, prediction or evolution estimation of blood vessels or associated organ diseases. Many fundamental issues of the blood flow are still not fully understood or entirely translated into mathematical formulations. Therefore, the computational modeling of the blood flow based on from medical imaging data is still a challenging task. The phenomena associated with pressure and viscous forces fields generate complex interactions which strongly affect the blood flow patterns. Description and integration of such phenomena in mathematical models by means of computer simulation provide critical information about hemodynamics in blood vessels. Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) techniques assure a complete description of the blood vessels behavior by allowing fluid-structure interaction data inclusion in constructed models. This kind of data cannot be extracted by direct in vivo or in vitro measurements. Moreover, simulation of the blood flow using CFD constitutes a noninvasive technique capable to provide comprehensive insights of the overall phenomena taking place at the most intimate level inside the sanguine vessels. The research is focused on hemodynamic investigation of a 3D portal vein main branches Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) based reconstruction using CFD techniques. The simulation results are validated by comparison with in vivo Eco-Doppler measurements. The study is conducted for the development of software assistance solutions for patients therapy by providing useful information regarding the hemodynamic characteristics and dynamics associated with portal vein hypertension evolution.