Cardiovascular Flow Simulations

The interdisciplinary Working Group for Cardiovascular Flow Simulations applies innovative numerical models to simulate blood flow in the cardiovascular system. A particular focus is set on the effects of different extracorporeal circulation techniques on the aortic blood flow profile and the intraoperative cerebral perfusion as well as the interaction with atherosclerotic plaques in idealized as well as in individualized vessel geometries. Besides in vitro circulations and human geometries, animal models are also applied.

The optimization of extracorporeal circulation techniques aims at reducing the risk of complications, such as embolic stroke or organ ischemia. Based on improved knowledge on the resulting flow profiles, preoperative planning is facilitated so that the extracorporeal circulation can be modified accordingly.

Team

• Prof. Dr. med. A. Assmann
• Dr. med. A. K. Assmann 
• Gerrit Paprotny
• Thiemo Frank
• cand. med. Sinje Reimers
• cand. med. Jan Buschmann
• cand. med. Aleyna Karakas

Collaborators

• German Primate Center Leibniz Institute for Primate Research
• Department of Cardiovascular Engineering, Helmholtz Institute of the RWTH Aachen University & Hospital
• CFD Lab, Duesseldorf University of Applied Sciences

Funding

• German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) Initiative “German Centres for Health Research” (DZHK) 2022
• German Research Foundation (DFG) „Nachwuchsakademie Herzchirurgie“ 2021
• German Heart Foundation/German Foundation of Heart Research 2020
• Research Commission of the University of Duesseldorf
• Research Funding of the Duesseldorf University of Applied Sciences
• Sorin Group Germany

Publications

• Assmann AK, Akhyari P, Demler F, Lichtenberg A and Assmann A. A magnetic resonance imaging-compatible small animal model under extracorporeal circulation. 
  Interactive CardioVascular and Thoracic Surgery (2019) 1–3. doi:10.1093/icvts/ivz139.
• Benim AC, Frank T, Assmann A, Lichtenberg A, Akhyari P. Computational investigation of hemodynamics in hardshell venous reservoirs: A comparative study. /Thesis Frank. Artif Organs. 2019 Oct 29. doi: 10.1111/aor.13593.
• Assmann A, Gül F, Benim AC, Joos F, Akhyari P, Lichtenberg A. Dispersive aortic cannulas reduce aortic wall shear stress affecting atherosclerotic plaque embolization. Artif Organs. 2015; 39:203-211.
• Assmann A, Benim AC, Gül F, Lux P, Akhyari P, Boeken U, Joos F, Feindt P, Lichtenberg A. Pulsatile extracorporeal circulation during on-pump cardiac surgery enhances aortic wall shear stress. J Biomech. 2012; 45:156-163.
• Assmann A, Benim AC, Gül F, Akhyari P, Lichtenberg A, Feindt P. Preoperative risk evaluation by simulating extracorporeal circulation and its impact on aortic blood flow. 40th Annual Meeting of the GSTCVS, Stuttgart, 2011.
• Assmann A, Benim AC, Nahavandi A, Schubert D, Lichtenberg A, Feindt P. Pulsatile, non-pulsatile, ante- or retrograde aortic blood flow: all the same? A computational fluid dynamics study of different ECC techniques. 39th Annual Meeting of the GSTCVS, Stuttgart, 2010.
• Assmann A, Benim AC, Nahavandi A, Turan E, Schubert D, Gams E, Feindt P. Aortic blood flow characteristics of different extracorporeal circulation techniques during cardiac surgery – a computational fluid dynamics study. IFMBE Proceedings 25/IV, pp. 1604-1607 / World Congress on Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering, Munich, 2009.
• Benim AC, Gül F, Assmann A, Akhyari P, Lichtenberg A, Joos F. Validation of loss-coefficient based outlet boundary conditions for simulating aortic flow. J Mech Med Biol. 2016; 16(1):1650011.
• Benim AC, Nahavandi A, Assmann A, Schubert D, Feindt P, Suh SH. Simulation of blood flow in human aorta with emphasis on outlet boundary conditions. Appl Math Model. 2011; 35(7):3175-3188.
• Benim AC, Gul F, Nahavandi A, Assmann A, Feindt P, Joos F. CFD Analysis of Blood Flow in Human Aorta with Experimental Validation. 7th International Conference on Computational Heat and Mass Transfer, July 18-22, 2011, Istanbul, Turkey.
• Benim AC, Gul F, Nahavandi A, Assmann A, Feindt P, Joos F. Simulation of Blood Flow in Human Aorta for Extracorporeal Circulation. 7th International Conference on Heat Transfer, Fluid Mechanics and Thermodynamics (HEFAT) 19-21 July, 2010, Antalya, Turkey; 259-264.
• Benim AC, Gül F, Nahavandi A, Assmann A, Feindt P, Joos F. Computational analysis of blood flow in human aorta. IJEMFS. 2010; 2(4):233-242.
• Assmann A, Beckmann A, Schmid C, Werdan K, Michels G, Miera O, Schmidt F, Klotz S, Starck C, Pilarczyk K, Rastan A, Burckhardt M, Nothacker M, Müllenbach R, Zausig Y, Haake N, Groesdonk H, Ferrari M, Buerke M, Hennersdorf M, Rosenberg M, Schaible T, Köditz H, Kluge S, Janssens U, Lubnow M, Flemmer A, Herber-Jonat S, Wessel L, Buchwald D, Maier S, Krüger L, Fründ A, Jaksties R, Fischer S, Wiebe K, Hartog CS, Dzemali O, Zimpfer D, Ruttmann-Ulmer E, Schlensak C, Kelm M, Ensminger S, Boeken U. Use of extracorporeal circulation (ECLS/ECMO) for cardiac and circulatory failure -A clinical practice Guideline Level 3. ESC Heart Fail. 2021 Nov 22. doi: 10.1002/ehf2.13718