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The presented paper aims at comparison of modelling approaches to a pulsatile fluid flow in aorta-like tube; it investigates their influence on the shape of the velocity profiles and waveforms, and consequently on wall shear stress. Comparisons of computational results between rigid and compliant tubes with laminar and low Re turbulent models of fluid are presented. The results were validated with PIV experimental data through the velocity profile in the half-length section of the tube for both cases (rigid and compliant) and the overall agreement was very good, almost perfect for the rigid case. Frequency of the pulse pump in the experimental circuit was 1Hz, the diameter of the tube similar to 20 mm, and maximum deformation of the compliant tube during a period was 12%. The turbulent model improved the agreement with the experimental data by flattening the velocity profiles in both cases, but the effect was much more pronounced for the compliant tube, especially during the deceleration phase. This work confirms the hypothesis stated by Brindise and Vlachos (2018) that a longer deceleration phase triggers transition to turbulence. We put foundations for extension of this hypothesis to compliant tubes where this conclusion was confirmed for physiological Reynolds and Womersley numbers. The main outputs of this study are: (i) the length of deceleration phase should be considered (in addition to the geometry or severity of stenosis) in decision whether fluid simulations should be performed with or without laminar flow assumption; (ii) for fluid simulations of blood vessels considering their compliance, a special care should be devoted to time synchronization between BCs to prevent unphysiological waveforms.

Biomechanical models based on the finite element method have already shown their potential in the simulation of the mechanical behaviour of cells. For instance, development of atherosclerosis is accelerated by damage of the endothelium, a monolayer of endothelial cells on the inner surface of arteries. Finite element models enable us to investigate mechanical factors not only at the level of the arterial wall but also at the level of individual cells. To achieve this, several finite element models of endothelial cells with different shapes are presented in this paper. Implementing the recently proposed bendotensegrity concept, these models consider the flexural behaviour of microtubules and incorporate also waviness of intermediate filaments. The suspended and adherent cell models are validated by comparison of their simulated force-deformation curves with experiments from the literature. The flat and dome cell models, mimicking natural cell shapes inside the endothelial layer, are then used to simulate their response in compression and shear which represent typical loads in a vascular wall. The models enable us to analyse the role of individual cytoskeletal components in the mechanical responses, as well as to quantify the nucleus deformation which is hypothesized to be the quantity decisive for mechanotransduction.

This study investigates the impact of reduced transmural conduction velocity (TCV) on output parameters of the human heart. In a healthy heart, the TCV contributes to synchronization of the onset of contraction in individual layers of the left ventricle (LV). However, it is unclear whether the clinically observed decrease of TCV contributes significantly to a reduction of LV contractility. The applied three-dimensional finite element model of isovolumic contraction of the human LV incorporates transmural gradients in electromechanical delay and myocyte shortening velocity and evaluates the impact of TCV reduction on pressure rise (namely, (dP/dt)(max)) and on isovolumic contraction duration (IVCD) in a healthy LV. The model outputs are further exploited in the lumped “Windkessel” model of the human cardiovascular system (based on electrohydrodynamic analogy of respective differential equations) to simulate the impact of changes of (dP/dt)(max) and IVCD on chosen systemic parameters (ejection fraction, LV power, cardiac output, and blood pressure). The simulations have shown that a 50% decrease in TCV prolongs substantially the isovolumic contraction, decelerates slightly the LV pressure rise, increases the LV energy consumption, and reduces the LV power. These negative effects increase progressively with further reduction of TCV. In conclusion, these results suggest that the pumping efficacy of the human LV decreases with lower TCV due to a higher energy consumption and lower LV power. Although the changes induced by the clinically relevant reduction of TCV are not critical for a healthy heart, they may represent an important factor limiting the heart function under disease conditions.

The paper deals with the impact of chosen geometric and material factors on maximal stresses in carotid atherosclerotic plaque calculated using patient-specific finite element models. These stresses are believed to be decisive for the plaque vulnerability but all applied models suffer from inaccuracy of input data, especially when obtainedin vivoonly. One hundred computational models based onex vivoMRI are used to investigate the impact of wall thickness, MRI slice thickness, lipid core and fibrous tissue stiffness, and media anisotropy on the calculated peak plaque and peak cap stresses. The investigated factors are taken as continuous in the range based on published experimental results, only the impact of anisotropy is evaluated by comparison with a corresponding isotropic model. Design of Experiment concept is applied to assess the statistical significance of these investigated factors representing uncertainties in the input data of the model. The results show that consideration of realistic properties of arterial wall in the model is decisive for the stress evaluation; assignment of properties of fibrous tissue even to media and adventitia layers as done in some studies may induce up to eightfold overestimation of peak stress. The impact of MRI slice thickness may play a key role when local thin fibrous cap is present. Anisotropy of media layer is insignificant, and the stiffness of fibrous tissue and lipid core may become significant in some combinations.

The paper deals with evaluation of the influence of finite element mesh density on the resulting extreme stresses in models of abdominal aortic aneurysms. In most patient-specific computational models published recently, a free mesh of tetrahedrons is used and any information on density of the applied mesh is often missing. In this study a comparison of different mesh densities has been realized with four patient-specific model geometries, all based on a numerical reconstruction of the unloaded geometry of the aneurysm, and with two different Yeoh-type constitutive models. It has been shown that resulting maximum stresses are not mesh independent; due to a better description of the stress gradient in the critical location, the maximum wall stress increases with increasing number of elements throughout the wall thickness, especially in models without residual stresses. This effect is more pronounced when using Vande Geest constitutive model with higher strain stiffening than for Raghavan-Vorp material parameters. Although the mesh density requirements were not so high when the stress gradient was reduced by taking residual stresses into consideration, even in this case low numbers of elements throughout the wall thickness may give mesh dependent results. Although for a rigorous recommendation of the mesh density more analyses are needed, it was shown that the time consuming procedure of taking residual stresses into consideration cannot be replaced by a simpler model with rough mesh.

Práce je zaměřena na řešení problémemu určování hodnot a průběhů výsledných vnitřních účinků. Cílem je algoritmizace výpočtu a jeho grafická interpretace. Hlavní důraz byl kladen na korektnost numerických výsledků a jejich správné vykreslení. Jako vhodný výpočtový model pro danou úlohu byl zvolen integrální přístup řešení a jeho algoritmizace. Samotný algoritmus programu byl napsán v programovacím jazyce C++. Dále jsou uvedeny základy z oblasti pružnosti a pevnosti prutů, jejichž znalost je nezbytná pro dané řešení problému nebo se předpokládá., The work is aimed at solution of problem with evaluating the values and courses of resulting inner effects. The goal is to algorithmize the calculation and its graphic interpretation. The main mphasis was on the correctness of numerical results and their correct depiction. Integral approach of olution and its logorithmization was chosen as suitable calculating model for given task. The algorithmus of the program itself was written in programming language C++. Thereinafter the basis of the sphere of tress and strain analysis in beams, the knowledge of which is neccessary for the given solution of the roblem or it is presumed.

Tato bakalářská práce se zaměřuje na určování křivosti v obecných bodech tepenných výdutí, konkrétně určováním hlavních křivostí v jednotlivých uzlech konečnoprvkové sítě idealizovaného aneurysmatu abdominální aorty., This bachelor thesis focuses on determining curvatures in generals points of aneurysms, concretly determining principal curvatures in individual points on finite element mesh of idealized abdominal aortic aneurysm.

Tato práce se zabývá uspořádáním kolagenních vláken ve stěně lidské cévy a simulací modelů, které se používají při výpočtech chování cév. Nejprve se zaměříme na anatomii cévního systému lidského těla, především na stavbu cévy a vlastnosti některých jejích složek. Dále uvádíme dva modely, kterými lze nahradit cévní stěnu při výpočtech, a to konkrétně modely s přímými a zvlněnými kolagenními vlákny. Také popisujeme některé metody, které lze použít pro získání informací o cévě. Poté jsme odvodili vztahy potřebné pro simulaci tahové zkoušky těchto modelů, hlavně na vyjádření délky kolagenních vláken. V praktické části provádíme simulace chování cév při jednoosé tahové zkoušce a vytvoříme histogramy lokálních úhlů natočení kolagenních vláken v nezatíženém stavu. Na závěr jsme porovnaly výsledky získané simulacemi s dostupnými reálnými hodnotami., This thesis deals with organisation of collagen fibres in human blood vessel walls and with simulation models, which are used to calculate vessel behaviour. Firstly, the thesis focuses on the anatomy of human blood vessel system, mainly on the vessel structure and properties of some vessel components. Next, two models are presented, which can be used for the vessel wall in calculations, specifically models with straight and wavy collagen fibres. Moreover, some methods are described, which can be used to gain information about a vessel. Subsequently, relationships are derived needed for simulation of tension tests of these models, mainly to express the length of collagen fibres. In the practical part simulations of vessel behaviour during uniaxial tension test are carried out and histograms of local direction angles of collagen fibres in the unloaded state are created. In the end, results gained by simulations are compared with real available data.

Bakalářská práce je zaměřena na získámí obecných informací o mozkových výduťích. Toto onemocnění se projevuje vyboulením stěny některé z mozkových tepen do kulového tvaru. Na počátku práce je uveden popis kardiovaskulárního systému člověka, který je důležitý k pochopení problému mozkových výdutí. Bakalářská práce dále ukazuje možnost řešení napětí ve stěně aneurysmatu za pomoci znalostí získaných z předmětu Pružnost a Pevnost II během šestého semestru. Poslední kapitola ukazuje shrnutí tří prací, které se zabývají výpočtovým modelováním mozkových výdutí., This bachelor thesis is focused on gathering general information about a cerebrovascular disorder called Cerebral Aneurysm (or also Brain Aneurysm) which is a medical condition consisting in an abnormal bulging outward of one of the arteries in the brain. The initial attention is given to the human cardiovascular system, a description of which is fatal for understanding the problem of brain aneurysm. The next attention is focused on the solution of eliminating the tension within the aneurysm by using knowledge gained in lectures "Flexibility and Strength II" during the sixth semester. The last chapter shows a summary of three works dealing with computational modeling of cerebral aneurysm.