Engineering for the Life Sciences

				Engineering for the Life Sciences Department of Engineering

Biomechanics of the carotid artery

modelling arterial deformation and blood flow

Atherosclerosis, clogging up of the artery, in the carotid artery is responsible for a large number of strokes, due to restrictions in the blood flow to the brain. Colleagues, including Dr Jonathon Gillard, at the Department of Radiology based in Cambridge's Addenbrooke's hospital, have developed world-leading techniques to produce high resolution images of the carotid artery, using high-resolution Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) and Computed Tomography (CT).

The project, in conjunction with Dr Yong Li, an engineer at Radiology in Addenbrooke's hospital, considers the interactions between the geometry and the material behaviour of the deposited tissue, and the fluid mechanics of flow through the artery, using numerical modelling to assess the affect of these factors on arterial deformation and blood flow. The aim of the project is to use the combination of imaging and modelling to develop better ways of estimating risk and so improving patient selection for different therapies.

Contact: Dr Michael Sutcliffe, email: mpfs at eng.cam.ac.uk, tel: +44 1223 332996

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