Flow measurement in stented left coronary artery models

Ischemic heart disease, a generic term for angina pectoris and myocardial infarction, is caused by blood flow failure due to a lesion generated in the coronary artery of the heart. Because the ischemic heart disease causes fatal problems, a stent placement technique called the percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) is frequently performed to expand coarctated arteries to recover the function. However, although the PCI technique is a less-invasive technique, there is a risk of complications such as stent thrombosis and restenosis due to the placed stent. In order to understand the cause and the mechanism of the complications, effects of the stent placement and the stent shape on the blood flow is experimentally investigated. Silicone left coronary artery models were prepared to perform particle tracking velocimetry (PTV) and calculated the wall shear stress (WSS). The measurement results show that the flow structure and the WSS are changed depending on the deformation of the stent and the location of the placed stent.