openBF: an open-source finite volume 1D blood flow solver.

Abstract

Computational simulations are widely adopted in cardiovascular biomechanics because of their capability of producing physiological data otherwise impossible to measure with non-invasive modalities. Objective This study presents openBF, a computational library for simulating the blood dynamics in the cardiovascular system. Approach openBF adopts a 1-D viscoelastic representation of the arterial system, and is coupled with 0-D windkessel models at the outlets. Equations are solved by means of the finite-volume method and the code is written in Julia. We assess its predictions by performing a multiscale validation study on several domains available from the literature. Main results At all scales, which range from individual arteries to a population of virtual subjects, openBF's solution show excellent agreement with the solutions from existing software. For reported simulations, openBF requires low computational times. Significance openBF is easy to install, use, and deploy on multiple platforms and architectures, and gives accurate prediction of blood dynamics in short time-frames. It is actively maintained and available open-source on GitHub, which favours contributions from the biomechanical community.