Location: Science Conference Room, Main Campus
Time: 3:00 p.m.
Atherosclerosis is an inflammatory disease. It starts when low density lipoproteins (LDL) enter the intima of blood vessel where they are oxidized (ox-LDL). The ox-LDL triggers an anti-inflammatory immune response that triggers the recruitment of monocytes into the intima where they differentiate into macrophages and foam cells. These cells amplify the production of inflammatory cytokines and further recruitment of monocytes. This auto-amplification is regulated by the secretion of anti-inflammatory cytokines (biochemical anti-inflammation) and triggers the migration of smooth muscle cells to form a fibrous cap that covers the lipid core. The set fibrous cap-lipid core is called atherosclerotic plaque. The formation of the atherosclerotic plaque in the intima of the blood vessel may lead to dangerous results (plaque rupture, obstruction of the blood flow ...). A 3D fluid-structure interaction (FSI) model is proposed to simulate the interactions among blood, atherosclerotic plaque and the vessel. Since the medical imaging provides only the geometry of the lumen, we construct the vessel wall and the atherosclerotic plaque in order to form the full geometry of the artery that will be used in the study. The numerical results show that the risk of progression of the plaque is higher in the case of the fixed wall; while the risk of plaque rupture is higher when the wall is considered as compliant. The talk is devoted to the mathematical modeling, analysis and numerical simulations of these phenomena.
Speaker: Dr. Nader El Khatib
Affiliation: LAU