Computational fluid dynamics in a model of the total cavopulmonary connection reconstructed using magnetic resonance images

THE RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN IMAGING techniques have created new opportunities to give an accurate description of the threedimensional morphology of vessels. Such threedimensional reconstruction of anatomical structures from medical images has achieved importance in several applications, such as the reconstruction of human bones, spine portions, and vascular districts. The concept of anatomic reconstruction is not a new one, and numerous techniques have been explored to three-dimensional entities from two-dimensional sources. The aim of reconstruction is to create virtual models, which are then useful either to perform computational analyses,8 or to build physical models, or to carry out experiments on test beds. The data from imaging techniques, coupled with analysis of computational fluid dynamics, has been used frequently to evaluate the local haemodynamics and the stresses in the walls of vessels in specific patients...