Defense Date

6-25-2020

Graduation Date

Summer 8-8-2020

Availability

One-year Embargo

Submission Type

thesis

Degree Name

MS

Department

Biomedical Engineering

School

Rangos School of Health Sciences

Committee Chair

Rana Zakerzadeh

Committee Member

Richard Simpson

Committee Member

Melikhan Tanyeri

Keywords

computational model, abdominal aortic aneurysm, intra luminal thrombus, hypoxia, oxygen transport

Abstract

The abdominal aortic aneurysm is progressive, asymptomatic, and can eventually lead to rupture which is a catastrophic event leading to massive internal bleeding and possibly death. AAA cases have been characterized by the development of an intraluminal thrombus (ILT). The ILT correlates with the progression of hypoxia in the arterial wall. The extent that ILT presence reduces oxygen flux to the wall has not been quantified and there is rather a poor understanding of key parameters that can affect thrombus-mediated oxygen transport in AAA. The purpose of this study is to address this gap and to assess the effects of different AAA geometric and physical features on the oxygen flow. We develop a modeling approach to investigate the association of ILT in AAA with local hypoxia. A sensitivity study is also performed to project oxygen fluctuations dependent on different model parameters including oxygen diffusivity, AAA geometric features, and the effect of the vasa vasorum. Results confirm that the presence of an ILT reduces oxygen flux to the wall. Highly sensitive parameters such as the effect of the vasa vasorum and wall diffusivity are identified.

Language

English

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