Xueying Huang^*, Chun Yang^†, Chun Yuan^‡, Fei Liu^‡, Gador Canton^‡, Jie Zheng^§, Pamela K. Woodard^§, Gregorio A. Sicard^¶, Dalin Tang^||

Molecular & Cellular Biomechanics, Vol.6, No.2, pp. 121-134, 2009, DOI:10.3970/mcb.2009.006.121

Abstract Image-based computational models for atherosclerotic plaques have been developed to perform mechanical analysis to quantify critical flow and stress/strain conditions related to plaque rupture which often leads directly to heart attack or stroke. An important modeling issue is how to determine zero stress state from in vivo plaque geometries. This paper presents a method to quantify human carotid artery axial and inner circumferential shrinkages by using patient-specific ex vivo and in vivo MRI images. A shrink-stretch process based on patient-specific in vivo plaque morphology and shrinkage data was introduced to shrink the in vivo geometry first to find the zero-stress… More >

Chun Yang^∗,†, Dalin Tang^∗,‡, Shunichi Kobayashi^§, Jie Zheng^¶, Pamela K. Woodard^§, Zhongzhao Teng^*, Richard Bach^||, David N. Ku^∗∗

Molecular & Cellular Biomechanics, Vol.5, No.4, pp. 259-274, 2008, DOI:10.3970/mcb.2008.005.259

Abstract Many acute cardiovascular syndromes such as heart attack and stroke are caused by atherosclerotic plaque ruptures which often happen without warning. MRI-based models with fluid-structure interactions (FSI) have been introduced to perform flow and stress/strain analysis for atherosclerotic plaques and identify possible mechanical and morphological indices for accurate plaque vulnerability assessment. In this paper, cyclic bending was added to 3D FSI coronary plaque models for more accurate mechanical predictions. Curvature variation was prescribed using the data of a human left anterior descending (LAD) coronary artery. Five computational models were constructed based on ex vivo MRI human coronary plaque data to… More >

Yuliya Vengrenyuk^*, Luis Cardoso^*, Sheldon Weinbaum^∗,†

Molecular & Cellular Biomechanics, Vol.5, No.1, pp. 37-48, 2008, DOI:10.3970/mcb.2008.005.037

Abstract In this paper, we further investigate the new paradigm for the rupture of thin cap fibroatheroma (TCFA) proposed in Vengrenyuk et al. (2006 PNAS 103:14678) using a multilevel micro-CT based 3D numerical modeling. The new paradigm proposes that the rupture of TCFA is due to stress-induced interfacial debonding of cellular - level, 10 -- 20 μm microcalcifications in the fibrous cap proper. Such microcalcifications, which lie below the visibility of current in vivo imaging techniques, were detected for the first time using confocal microscopy and high resolution microcomputed tomography (micro-CT) imaging in Vengrenyuk et al. (2006) In the present study,… More >

Jin Suo^*, John N. Oshinski^∗,†, D.P. Giddens^∗,‡

Molecular & Cellular Biomechanics, Vol.5, No.1, pp. 9-18, 2008, DOI:10.3970/mcb.2008.005.009

Abstract Atherosclerotic plaques in human coronary arteries are focal manifestations of systemic disease, and biomechanical factors have been hypothesized to contribute to plaque genesis and localization. We developed a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model of the ascending aorta and proximal sections of the right and left coronary arteries of a normal human subject using computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and determined the pulsatile flow field. Results demonstrate that flow patterns in the ascending aorta contribute to a pro-atherosclerotic flow environment, specifically through localization of low and oscillatory wall shear stress in the neighborhood of coronary orifices. Furthermore, these… More >

Xinyang Cui¹, Qingshuai Ren^1,2, Zihao Li¹, Kun Peng¹, Gaoyang Li^1,3, Zhaoyong Gu¹, Aike Qiao^1,*

CMES-Computer Modeling in Engineering & Sciences, Vol.116, No.3, pp. 455-469, 2018, DOI: 10.31614/cmes.2018.04135

Abstract Clinical application of bare metal stents is constrained by the occurrence of in-stent restenosis, mainly due to the complex biomechanical environment in the body. Numerical simulation method was used to evaluate the effect of plaque composition on stent performance in a carotid artery. CT angiography (CTA) data were used as a reference, and zero-load state of the carotid artery was used to establish a 3D stenotic artery model. Different plaque compositions, calcified and hypo-cellular were defined in Model 1 and Model 2, respectively. Interactions between the stents and arterial tissues within the stent crimping-expansion process were analyzed to explore the… More >

Chun Yang^1,2, Dalin Tang², Satya Atluri³

CMES-Computer Modeling in Engineering & Sciences, Vol.72, No.1, pp. 53-78, 2011, DOI:10.3970/cmes.2011.072.053

Abstract Previously, we introduced a computational procedure based on three-dimensional meshless generalized finite difference (MGFD) method and serial magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data to quantify patient-specific carotid atherosclerotic plaque growth functions and simulate plaque progression. Structure-only models were used in our previous report. In this paper, fluid-stricture interaction (FSI) was added to improve on prediction accuracy. One participating patient was scanned three times (T1, T2, and T3, at intervals of about 18 months) to obtain plaque progression data. Blood flow was assumed to laminar, Newtonian, viscous and incompressible. The Navier-Stokes equations with arbitrary Lagrangian-Eulerian (ALE) formulation were used as the governing… More >

Chun Yang^1,2, Dalin Tang^2,3 Satya Atluri⁴

CMES-Computer Modeling in Engineering & Sciences, Vol.57, No.1, pp. 51-76, 2010, DOI:10.3970/cmes.2010.057.051

Abstract Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is becoming the number one cause of death worldwide. Atherosclerotic plaque rupture and progression are closely related to most severe cardiovascular syndromes such as heart attack and stroke. Mechanisms governing plaque rupture and progression are not well understood. A computational procedure based on three-dimensional meshless generalized finite difference (MGFD) method and serial magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data was introduced to quantify patient-specific carotid atherosclerotic plaque growth functions and simulate plaque progression. Participating patients were scanned three times (T1, T2, and T3, at intervals of about 18 months) to obtain plaque progression data. Vessel wall thickness (WT) changes… More >

Chun Yang¹, Dalin Tang², Chun Yuan³, William Kerwin², Fei Liu³, Gador Canton³, Thomas S. Hatsukami^3,4, Satya Atluri⁵

CMES-Computer Modeling in Engineering & Sciences, Vol.28, No.2, pp. 95-108, 2008, DOI:10.3970/cmes.2008.028.095

Abstract Atherosclerotic plaque rupture and progression have been the focus of intensive investigations in recent years. Plaque rupture is closely related to most severe cardiovascular syndromes such as heart attack and stroke. A computational procedure based on meshless generalized finite difference (MGFD) method and serial magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data was introduced to quantify patient-specific carotid atherosclerotic plaque growth functions and simulate plaque progression. Participating patients were scanned three times (T₁,T₂, and T₃, at intervals of about 18 months) to obtain plaque progression data. Vessel wall thickness (WT) changes were used as the measure for plaque progression. Since there was insufficient… More >

Chun Yang¹, Dalin Tang², Chun Yuan³, Thomas S. Hatsukami⁴, Jie Zheng⁵, Pamela K. Woodard⁵

CMES-Computer Modeling in Engineering & Sciences, Vol.19, No.3, pp. 233-246, 2007, DOI:10.3970/cmes.2007.019.233

Abstract It has been recognized that fluid-structure interactions (FSI) play an important role in cardiovascular disease initiation and development. However, in vivo MRI multi-component FSI models for human carotid atherosclerotic plaques with bifurcation and quantitative comparisons of FSI models with fluid-only or structure-only models are currently lacking in the literature. A 3D non-Newtonian multi-component FSI model based on in vivo/ex vivo MRI images for human atherosclerotic plaques was introduced to investigate flow and plaque stress/strain behaviors which may be related to plaque progression and rupture. Both artery wall and plaque components were assumed to be hyperelastic, isotropic, incompressible and homogeneous. Blood… More >