Micropolar pulsatile blood flow conveying nanoparticles in a stenotic tapered artery: NON-Newtonian pharmacodynamic simulation

Abstract

Two-dimensional rheological laminar hemodynamics through a diseased tapered artery with a mild stenosis present is simulated theoretically and computationally. The effect of different metallic nanoparticles homogeneously suspended in the blood is considered, motivated by drug delivery (pharmacology) applications. The Eringen micropolar model has been discussed for hemorheological characteristics in the whole arterial region. The conservation equations for mass, linear momentum, angular momentum (micro-rotation), and energy and nanoparticle species are normalized by employing suitable non-dimensional variables. The transformed equations are solved numerically subject to physically appropriate boundary conditions using the finite element method with the variational formulation scheme available in the FreeFEM++ code. A good correlation is achieved between the FreeFEM++ computations and existing results. The effect of selected parameters (taper angle, Prandtl number, Womersley parameter, pulsatile constants, and volumetric concentration) on velocity, temperature, and micro-rotational (Eringen angular) velocity has been calculated for a stenosed arterial segment. Wall shear stress, volumetric flow rate, and hemodynamic impedance of blood flow are also computed. Colour contours and graphs are employed to visualize the simulated blood flow characteristics. It is observed that by increasing Prandtl number (Pr), the micro-rotational velocity decreases i.e., microelement (blood cell) spin is suppressed. Wall shear stress decreases with the increment in pulsatile parameters (B and e), whereas linear velocity increases with a decrement in these parameters. Furthermore, the velocity decreases in the tapered region with elevation in the Womersley parameter (α). The simulations are relevant to transport phenomena in pharmacology and nano-drug targeted delivery in hematology.

Keywords: Finite Element Method; FreeFEM++; Hemo-rheology; Hemodynamic impedance; Micropolar fluid model; Nano-drugs; Nano-pharmacodynamics; Pressure gradient; Tapered artery; Wall shear stress.