Cardiovascular diseases, including heart failure, are a global health concern, necessitating advancements in non-invasive diagnostic tools and treatments. Computational modeling offers an invaluable approach to simulate and understand the intricacies of cardiac flow dynamics. This study aims to identify critical blood flow properties in the left atrium, a crucial component of the heart responsible for receiving oxygenated blood from the lungs and pumping it into the left ventricle. Building on previous work, this project implemented an idealized model of the left atrium using Finite Element Method (FEM) and simulated various properties related to its geometry, revealing crucial aspects of fluid dynamics. Specifically, analysis revealed a U-shaped inflow profile, pressure variations due to flow jets and presence of vortices, asymmetrical outflow due to differences in pulmonary vein geometry, and the presence of longitudinal vortex structures within the atrium. These properties can provide valuable insights about the blood flow in a healthy heart. This research presents a foundation for future work aiming to integrate models of the left ventricle and left atrium, offering a more comprehensive understanding of the left heart's functionality and potential pathologies. Further studies should focus on in-depth analysis, extension and validation of these properties using real patient data to enhance their diagnostic potential.

The study applies in vivo technique for profiling hemodynamics and wall shear stress (WSS) distribution in human coronary arteries. The methodology involves fusion of 2D Intra Vascular Ultra Sound and Bi-plane angiograms to reproduce the 3D arterial geometry. This geometry is then used in a Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) module for flow modeling. The Walburn and Schneck constitutive relation was used to represent the non-Newtonian blood rheology. The methodology is applied to study the relationship between WSS and Neointimal Hyperplasia (NIH) in two groups of diabetic patients after being treated separately with bare metal stents (BMS) and Sirolimus Eluting Stents (SES). The stent assignments were blinded until the end of the study. The study was repeated for the patients after 9 months. The predicted WSS ranged from (0.1- 8 N/m2) and was categorized into five classes: low ( < 1 N/m2); low-normal (1-2 N/m2); normal (2-3 N/m2); high-normal (3-4 N/m2); high ( > 4 N/m2). The results indicate NIH in 5 of the patients treated with BMS and none in SES cases. These results correlate with our predicted WSS distribution.