Influence of Non-Newtonian Viscosity on Flow Structures and Wall Deformation in Compliant Serpentine Microchannels: A Numerical Study

The viscosity of fluid plays a major role in the flow dynamics of microchannels. Viscous drag and shear forces are the primary tractions for microfluidic fluid flow. Capillary blood vessels with a few microns diameter are impacted by the rheology of blood flowing through their conduits. Hence, regenerated capillaries should be able to withstand such impacts. Consequently, there is a need to understand the flow physics of culture media through the lumen of the substrate as it is one of the vital promoting factors for vasculogenesis under optimal shear conditions at the endothelial lining of the regenerated vessel. Simultaneously, considering the diffusive role of capillaries for ion exchange with the surrounding tissue, capillaries have been found to reorient themselves in serpentine form for modulating the flow conditions while developing sustainable shear stress. In the current study, S-shaped (S1) and delta-shaped (S2) serpentine models of capillaries were considered to evaluate the shear stress distribution and the oscillatory shear index (OSI) and relative residual time (RRT) of the derivatives throughout the channel (due to the phenomena of near-wall stress fluctuation), along with the influence of culture media rheology on wall stress parameters. The non-Newtonian power-law formulation was implemented for defining rheological viscosity of the culture media. The flow actuation of the media was considered to be sinusoidal and physiological, realizing the pulsatile blood flow behavior in the circulatory network. A distinct difference in shear stress distributions was observed in both the serpentine models. The S1 model showed higher change in shear stress in comparison to the S2 model. Furthermore, the non-Newtonian viscosity formulation was found to produce more sustainable shear stress near the serpentine walls compared to the Newtonian formulation fluid, emphasizing the influence of rheology on stress generation. Further, cell viability improved in the bending regions of serpentine channels compared to the long run section of the same channel.

Hemodynamic Analysis Shows High Wall Shear Stress Is Associated with Intraoperatively Observed Thin Wall Regions of Intracranial Aneurysms

BACKGROUND

Studying the relationship between hemodynamics and local intracranial aneurysm (IA) pathobiology can help us understand the natural history of IA. We characterized the relationship between the IA wall appearance, using intraoperative imaging, and the hemodynamics from CFD simulations.

METHODS

Three-dimensional geometries of 15 IAs were constructed and used for CFD. Two-dimensional intraoperative images were subjected to wall classification using a machine learning approach, after which the wall type was mapped onto the 3D surface. IA wall regions included thick (white), normal (purple-crimson), and thin/translucent (red) regions. IA-wide and local statistical analyses were performed to assess the relationship between hemodynamics and wall type.

RESULTS

Thin regions of the IA sac had significantly higher WSS, Normalized WSS, WSS Divergence and Transverse WSS, compared to both normal and thick regions. Thicker regions tended to co-locate with significantly higher RRT than thin regions. These trends were observed on a local scale as well. Regression analysis showed a significant positive correlation between WSS and thin regions and a significant negative correlation between WSSD and thick regions.

CONCLUSION

Hemodynamic simulation results were associated with the intraoperatively observed IA wall type. We consistently found that elevated WSS and WSS_Norm were associated with thin regions of the IA wall rather than thick and normal regions.