Deposition-driven growth in atherosclerosis modelling

This study presents a preliminary analysis of atherosclerotic plaque growth as influenced by mural infiltration of low density lipoprotein (LDL). A computational model is developed to simulate physiological physics on a simplified two-dimensional bifurcating arterial geometry, comprising of a luminal volume and a wall modelled via boundary conditions. Dynamic blood flow is modelled with the incompressible Navier-Stokes equations and mass transport of LDL via passive scalar transport equations. Wall growth is modelled with explicit Lagrangian mesh motion. The modelling approach adopted in this study focuses on obtaining an estimate of the emergence and subsequent growth behaviour of atherosclerosis. For the purpose of accelerating growth, mass conservation in the growing lesion is not monitored, and in doing so, the model is made independent of a temporal scale. The purpose of this study is therefore not to obtain precise behaviour of the growing lesion, but rather an estimate at a reducing computational effort. The model is tested on a sample geometry and shown to provide a satisfactory estimate of the emergence and behaviour of atherosclerotic lesions. The findings of this study are expected to contribute to the development of more sophisticated atherosclerosis growth models which will give insight into the nature and growth behaviour of the disease.