Biomechanics of patient specific abdominal aortic aneurysms: computational analysis of fluid flow

Abdominal Aortic Aneurysms (AAAs) are located in the abdominal segment of the aorta, the majority below the renal arteries and above the iliac artery bifurcation. The associated mortality and morbidity rates have risen concomitantly in the last few years, despite significant improvements in surgical procedures and technological advancements in imaging devices. AAAs are a health risk of significant importance since they are largely asymptomatic until the onset of rupture, an event that carries an overall mortality rate in the 80% to 90% range. Aneurysm rupture is a biomechanical phenomenon that occurs when the mechanical stress acting on the inner wall exceeds the failure strength of the diseased aortic tissue. Since the internal mechanical forces are initiated and maintained by the dynamic action of blood flow within the aneurysm, the hemodynamics and wall mechanics of AAAs are important elements of study for the characterization of the biomechanical environment of aneurysms. It is the purpose of this work to perform fluid flow analysis on a patient specific aneurysm model. The results are compared to those of the static stress analysis performed on the same model.