Identification of DVT diseases using numerical simulations

© International Federation for Medical and Biological Engineering 2016This research provides useful insights for better diagnosis and understanding the vein blockage induced by a deep venous thrombosis and the occurrence of reverse flow in human veins, allowing a proper detection of serious diseases related to deep venous insufficiency. An arbitrary Lagrangian-Eulerian formulation is used in a coupled model (i.e. fluid and structure equations solved together), considering two domains, specifically the blood flow and the flexible structures (i.e. vein and valves). Computational fluid dynamics mathematical model based on finite element method, with special elements and boundary characterization, is addressed to find the best solution. This research presents a novel model to study the interaction between non-Newtonian laminar fluid flows, the blood, within nonlinear structures, the vein walls. Simulation results are validated using in vivo echo-Doppler measurements.This research was funded by the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) through the Doctoral Grant—SFRH/BD/68293/2010 of the first author. We would also like to thank CEris (CEHIDRO), the Civil Engineering research innovation and sustainability centre from the Department of Civil Engineering, Architecture and Georesources (DECivil), of Instituto Superior Técnico, from the University of Lisbon.