In vivo measurement of blood clot mechanics from computational fluid dynamics based on intravital microscopy images

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

3-1-2019

Abstract

Ischemia which leads to heart attacks and strokes is one of the major causes of death in the world. Whether an occlusion occurs or not depends on the ability of a growing thrombus to resist flow forces exerted on its structure. This manuscript provides the first known in vivo measurement of how much stress a clot can withstand, before yielding to the surrounding blood flow. Namely, Lattice-Boltzmann Method flow simulations are performed based on 3D clot geometries, which are estimated from intravital microscopy images of laser-induced injuries in cremaster microvasculature of live mice. In addition to reporting the blood clot yield stresses, we also show that the thrombus “core” does not experience significant deformation, while its “shell” does. This indicates that the shell is more prone to embolization. Therefore, drugs should be designed to target the shell selectively, while leaving the core intact to minimize excessive bleeding. Finally, we laid down a foundation for a nondimensionalization procedure which unraveled a relationship between clot mechanics and biology. Hence, the proposed framework could ultimately lead to a unified theory of thrombogenesis, capable of explaining all clotting events. Thus, the findings presented herein will be beneficial to the understanding and treatment of heart attacks, strokes and hemophilia.

Identifier

85060012587 (Scopus)

Publication Title

Computers in Biology and Medicine

External Full Text Location

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compbiomed.2019.01.001

e-ISSN

18790534

ISSN

00104825

PubMed ID

30660757

First Page

1

Last Page

11

Volume

106

Grant

ACI-1548562

Fund Ref

National Science Foundation

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