Computational fluid–structure interaction: methods and application to a total cavopulmonary connection

• DOI: 10.1007/s00466-009-0419-y
• Publication Date: 2009-09-23T09:56:47Z
• Authors: Yuri Bazilevs; M.-C. Hsu; D. J. Benson; S. Sankaran; A. L. Marsden
• Keywords: Mechanical Engineering; Applied Mathematics; Hyperelasticity; Classical Continuum Physics; Ocean Engineering; Blood flow; 01 natural sciences; Theoretical and Applied Mechanics; Wall shear stress; Computational Mathematics; Engineering; Computational Science and Engineering; Fontan surgery; Computational Theory and Mathematics; Variable wall thickness; 0101 mathematics; Fluid–structure interaction

The Fontan procedure is a surgery that is performed on single-ventricle heart patients, and, due to the wide range of anatomies and variations among patients, lends itself nicely to study by advanced numerical methods. We focus on a patient-specific Fontan configuration, and per- form a fully coupled fluid-structure interaction (FSI) anal- ysis of hemodynamics and vessel wall motion. To enable physiologically realistic simulations, a simple approach to constructing a variable-thickness blood vessel wall descrip- tion is proposed. Rest and exercise conditions are simulated and rigid versus flexible vessel wall simulation results are compared. We conclude that flexible wall modeling plays an important role in predicting quantities of hemodynamic interest in the Fontan connection. To the best of our knowl- edge, this paper presents the first three-dimensional patient- specific fully coupled FSI analysis of a total cavopulmonary connection that also includes large portions of the pulmonary circulation.