Numerical Study of Bloodstream Diffusion of the New Generation of Drug-Eluting Stents in Coronary Arteries

Abstract

The present work aims at developing a numerical study on the drug diffusion in the bloodstream in a coronary artery with drug-eluting stent implanted. The blood was modeled as a single-phase, incompressible and Newtonian fluid and the Navier–Stokes equation was approximated according to the Finite Element Method (FEM). The dynamics of drug-eluting concentration in bloodstream was investigated using four drug-eluting stents with different mass diffusivities in microchannels with variable cross sections, including a real coronary artery geometry with atherosclerosis. The results reveal complex drug concentration patterns and accumulation in the vicinity of the fat buildup.