Accuracy vs. computational time: Translating aortic simulations to the clinic

State of the art simulations of aortic haemodynamics feature full fluid-structure interaction (FSI) and coupled OD boundary conditions. Such analyses require not only significant computational resource but also weeks to months of run time, which compromises the effectiveness of their translation to a clinical workflow. This article employs three computational fluid methodologies, of varying levels of complexity with coupled OD boundary conditions, to simulate the haemodynamics within a patient-specific aorta. The most comprehensive model is a full FSI simulation. The simplest is a rigid walled incompressible fluid simulation while an alternative middle-ground approach employs a compressible fluid, tuned to elicit a response analogous to the compliance of the aortic wall. The results demonstrate that, in the context of certain clinical questions, the simpler analysis methods may capture the important characteristics of the flow field. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.