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Combined MRI and CFD analysis of fully developed steady and pulsatile laminar flow through a bend
Author(s) -
Weston S. J.,
Wood N. B.,
Tabor G.,
Gosman A. D.,
Firmin D. N.
Publication year - 1998
Publication title -
journal of magnetic resonance imaging
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.563
H-Index - 160
eISSN - 1522-2586
pISSN - 1053-1807
DOI - 10.1002/jmri.1880080523
Subject(s) - pulsatile flow , computational fluid dynamics , laminar flow , mechanics , shear stress , flow (mathematics) , reynolds number , imaging phantom , materials science , turbulence , flow separation , pressure drop , biomedical engineering , physics , medicine , optics , cardiology
A combined MR and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) study is made of flow in a simple phantom laboratory flow rig consisting of a 180° bend with straight entry and exit sections. The aim was to investigate the potential of the use of MRI‐linked CFD simulations for in vivo use. To this end, the experiment was set up for both steady and pulsatile laminar flow conditions, with Reynolds and Dean numbers and Womersley pulsatility parameter representative of resting flow in the human aorta. The geometrical images of the pipe and the velocity images at entry to the bend were used as boundary conditions for CFD simulations of the flow. The CFD results for both steady and pulsatile cases compared favorably with velocity images obtained at exit from the bend. Additional information such as pressure and wall shear stress, which either could not be measured adequately via MRI, or could not be measured at all, was also extracted from the simulation. Overall, the results were sufficiently promising to justify persuing subsequent in vivo studies.