Sensitivity of patient-specific physiological and pathological aortic hemodynamics to the choice of outlet boundary condition in numerical models

Purpose: Outlet boundary conditions (OBC) play a pivotal role in all simulations of vascular flow. However, previous investigations of OBC impact on numerical aortic flow simulations were not yet comprehensive for the entirety of hemodynamic characteristics. They mainly investigated near-wall proper...

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Main Authors: Tianai Wang, Christine Quast, Florian Bönner, Tobias Zeus, Malte Kelm, Teresa Lemainque, Ulrich Steinseifer, Michael Neidlin
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2025-01-01
Series:Computer Methods and Programs in Biomedicine Update
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Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666990025000187
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author Tianai Wang
Christine Quast
Florian Bönner
Tobias Zeus
Malte Kelm
Teresa Lemainque
Ulrich Steinseifer
Michael Neidlin
author_facet Tianai Wang
Christine Quast
Florian Bönner
Tobias Zeus
Malte Kelm
Teresa Lemainque
Ulrich Steinseifer
Michael Neidlin
author_sort Tianai Wang
collection DOAJ
description Purpose: Outlet boundary conditions (OBC) play a pivotal role in all simulations of vascular flow. However, previous investigations of OBC impact on numerical aortic flow simulations were not yet comprehensive for the entirety of hemodynamic characteristics. They mainly investigated near-wall properties and velocity in physiological flow. Therefore, the aim of this work was to expand the sensitivity assessment to hemodynamic markers in the bulk flow to the choice of OBC for a physiological and pathological aortic flow field. Material and methods: Image-based computational models of subject-specific aortic geometries were created. Temporally and spatially resolved inlet velocity profiles derived from 4D Flow MRI were implemented. Three types of OBCs were compared: zero pressure, loss coefficients and three-element Windkessel. Their influence on velocity, near-wall properties and bulk flow quantities were analyzed. Results: Velocity and near-wall parameters in the ascending aorta are largely insensitive to the OBC choice. However, bulk flow parameters, in particular the helicity field, are highly sensitive throughout the entire aortic domain with differences of up to 600 % between models. The relative sensitivity to OBC drops for pathological flows, as the influence of more complex inlet profiles increases. Conclusion: While the sensitivity of velocity and near-wall parameters to OBC choice is insignificant when only the ascending aorta is assessed, our study proposes a more thorough discernment once bulk flow parameters are of interest. Different degrees of boundary condition complexity are required to determine the hemodynamic properties of interest accurately. A support tool is presented to determine the case-dependent minimum requirement for inlet and outlet boundary conditions.
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spelling doaj-art-c6dac9c4d3974e8fb09df91aebe21fec2025-08-20T03:07:50ZengElsevierComputer Methods and Programs in Biomedicine Update2666-99002025-01-01710019410.1016/j.cmpbup.2025.100194Sensitivity of patient-specific physiological and pathological aortic hemodynamics to the choice of outlet boundary condition in numerical modelsTianai Wang0Christine Quast1Florian Bönner2Tobias Zeus3Malte Kelm4Teresa Lemainque5Ulrich Steinseifer6Michael Neidlin7Department of Cardiovascular Engineering, Institute of Applied Medical Engineering, Medical Faculty, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany; Corresponding author at: Department of Cardiovascular Engineering, Institute of Applied Medical Engineering, Forckenbeckstr. 55, 52074 Aachen, Germany.Department of Cardiology, Pulmonary Diseases and Vascular Medicine, Heinrich-Heine University, Düsseldorf, GermanyDepartment of Cardiology, Pulmonary Diseases and Vascular Medicine, Heinrich-Heine University, Düsseldorf, GermanyDepartment of Cardiology, Pulmonary Diseases and Vascular Medicine, Heinrich-Heine University, Düsseldorf, GermanyDepartment of Cardiology, Pulmonary Diseases and Vascular Medicine, Heinrich-Heine University, Düsseldorf, Germany; CARID, Cardiovascular Research Institute Düsseldorf, Heinrich-Heine University, Düsseldorf, GermanyDepartment of Diagnostic and Interventional Radiology, Medical Faculty, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, GermanyDepartment of Cardiovascular Engineering, Institute of Applied Medical Engineering, Medical Faculty, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, GermanyDepartment of Cardiovascular Engineering, Institute of Applied Medical Engineering, Medical Faculty, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, GermanyPurpose: Outlet boundary conditions (OBC) play a pivotal role in all simulations of vascular flow. However, previous investigations of OBC impact on numerical aortic flow simulations were not yet comprehensive for the entirety of hemodynamic characteristics. They mainly investigated near-wall properties and velocity in physiological flow. Therefore, the aim of this work was to expand the sensitivity assessment to hemodynamic markers in the bulk flow to the choice of OBC for a physiological and pathological aortic flow field. Material and methods: Image-based computational models of subject-specific aortic geometries were created. Temporally and spatially resolved inlet velocity profiles derived from 4D Flow MRI were implemented. Three types of OBCs were compared: zero pressure, loss coefficients and three-element Windkessel. Their influence on velocity, near-wall properties and bulk flow quantities were analyzed. Results: Velocity and near-wall parameters in the ascending aorta are largely insensitive to the OBC choice. However, bulk flow parameters, in particular the helicity field, are highly sensitive throughout the entire aortic domain with differences of up to 600 % between models. The relative sensitivity to OBC drops for pathological flows, as the influence of more complex inlet profiles increases. Conclusion: While the sensitivity of velocity and near-wall parameters to OBC choice is insignificant when only the ascending aorta is assessed, our study proposes a more thorough discernment once bulk flow parameters are of interest. Different degrees of boundary condition complexity are required to determine the hemodynamic properties of interest accurately. A support tool is presented to determine the case-dependent minimum requirement for inlet and outlet boundary conditions.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666990025000187Computational fluid dynamicsBoundary conditionsAortic hemodynamicsPatient-specific modelingSensitivity analysis
spellingShingle Tianai Wang
Christine Quast
Florian Bönner
Tobias Zeus
Malte Kelm
Teresa Lemainque
Ulrich Steinseifer
Michael Neidlin
Sensitivity of patient-specific physiological and pathological aortic hemodynamics to the choice of outlet boundary condition in numerical models
Computer Methods and Programs in Biomedicine Update
Computational fluid dynamics
Boundary conditions
Aortic hemodynamics
Patient-specific modeling
Sensitivity analysis
title Sensitivity of patient-specific physiological and pathological aortic hemodynamics to the choice of outlet boundary condition in numerical models
title_full Sensitivity of patient-specific physiological and pathological aortic hemodynamics to the choice of outlet boundary condition in numerical models
title_fullStr Sensitivity of patient-specific physiological and pathological aortic hemodynamics to the choice of outlet boundary condition in numerical models
title_full_unstemmed Sensitivity of patient-specific physiological and pathological aortic hemodynamics to the choice of outlet boundary condition in numerical models
title_short Sensitivity of patient-specific physiological and pathological aortic hemodynamics to the choice of outlet boundary condition in numerical models
title_sort sensitivity of patient specific physiological and pathological aortic hemodynamics to the choice of outlet boundary condition in numerical models
topic Computational fluid dynamics
Boundary conditions
Aortic hemodynamics
Patient-specific modeling
Sensitivity analysis
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666990025000187
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