FLOW VISUALIZATION IN RIGHT CORONARY ARTERY BYPASS MODELS

Abstract

It is well known from fundamental fluid mechanics that separation regions occur at bends and bifurcations of blood vessels. In addition to this, a secondary flow is also created. This means that the flow is moving forward like a vortical plait. Vortices are created that move counterclockwise to each other perpendicular to the mainstream direction. Three-dimensional flow exists, which is totally different to the well-known parabolic flow in straight pipes under laminar flow conditions. Therefore, a short fundamental introduction to biofluid mechanics is presented in this paper. A coronary artery model with different bypasses is shown as an example. The coronary artery is a prominent cardiac vessel often affected by the atherosclerosis process, which can lead to its full blockage. Blood flow is restored by the construction of a bypass performed by implanting part of the saphenous vein. This bypass is subjected to varying flow conditions during the various phases of pulsatile blood flow. For precise location of the regions associated with flow abnormalities, flow visualization through the complete bypass, covering the arterial and bypass sections, is required. This forms the objective of the present work: to visualize flow changes in bypass models of the right coronary artery prior to its bifurcation under pulsatile flow conditions.