Fluid-structure interaction analysis of anastomosis in patient specific arterial segment

Although micro-anastomosis is the most commonly performed procedure for reconnecting two blood vessels through sutures, thrombus formation and subsequently anastomotic failure remains one of the most serious clinical complications. An important stimulus to thrombus formation is the altered hemodynamics with abnormal Wall Shear Stress (WSS) distribution on endothelial cells generated by the presence of sutures. Computational simulation is a valid tool to examine the local hemodynamics of micro-anastomosed vessels, allowing for the calculation of the WSS, a factor that could otherwise not directly possible to be measured in vivo. The aim of this study is to perform Fluid-Structure Interaction (FSI) analysis of micro-anastomosis in order to examine the effects of the wall compliance on the hemodynamic quantities.