Residence times and basins of attraction for a realistic right internal carotid artery with two aneurysms

Abstract

We are presenting computational fluid dynamics simulation results for the flow in an anatomically accurate right internal carotid artery, exhibiting two saccular aneurysms close to each other. Our study focuses on the investigation of passage times for blood cells through the two-aneurysm malformation. We construct residence time maps that exhibit strong non-uniformity, linked to the entry of fluid in only the first, only the second, or in both aneurysms. An entrance index is computed, showing qualitatively the regions at an arterial section upstream of the aneurysms, where cells following one of these scenarios emanate. The significance of the residence time profiles and entry scenarios obtained is discussed with respect to thrombosis and pharmacokinetics. Preliminary evidence that the inflow-outflow patterns of the two aneurysms may be leading to particularly complex flow and to chaotic mixing is discussed.