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I’m modeling blood flow in diseased vessels. Specifically, I’m looking at atherosclerotic arteries, or “clogged arteries.” The formation of atherosclerotic plaque changes the way blood flows in that portion of the vessel. Fluid forces from the blood flow then affect the behavior of the artery wall and the plaque. Questions arise such as whether more plaque will form, whether the artery will collapse, whether an aneurysm will form, or whether the plaque will rupture.
The latter is the most significant since plaque rupture can cause blood clot formation (thrombosis), which is the major cause of heart attack and stroke. Ideally, this would be preventable once atherosclerosis was identified in a patient, but surgical procedures are risky, and there’s no guarantee that a particular plaque will rupture. What is needed is a better way to look at plaque and determine whether or not it is vulnerable to rupture, and thus whether or not surgery is worthwhile.
What I’m doing is building virtual models of atherosclerotic arteries, simulating blood flow in them, and then analyzing how the geometry of the vessel and the plaque affect the flow and fluid forces. From there I can speculate, using knowledge of fluid force’s effects on blood vessels, on how this kind of plaque geometry will progress and on how dangerous it really is. Information such as this would be useful to clinicians when they evaluate a patient and determine treatment.
My models are based on clinical images (MRI and angiogram) of the carotid artery bifurcation (splitting in two branches) supplied by a radiologist (with patient consent). The carotid artery is prone to plaque formation and is the common source of thrombi which cause stroke.
This project has been great preparation for future work in biomedical research. Prof. Rossmann has been fantastic. She’s a mechanical engineering professor, and I really appreciate her willingness to take on a biology student. She’s a great teacher and the research is always interesting.
After graduation, I’m doing an internship in Paris, France, at a company called Air Liquide. I’ll be looking at how aerosol medications deposit in the lungs. After that, I plan to go to medical school and pursue an MD/PhD.