Researchers at the EPFL Laboratory of Multiscale Modeling of Materials in Switzerland have developed a flowing 3D model of the coronary arteries. They used the Cadmos supercomputer, with 16,000 microprocessors, to develop an individual specific model with a precision of ten micrometers, which is about the size of a single red blood cell. The model will be used to predict the formation of arteriosclerosis and study its role in myocardial infarction.
From the press release:
“When studying the blood flow in arteries, one has to take into account a vast number of different fluid interactions that happen on different time scales and of different sizes,” explains Simone Melchionna, who heads the project. Based on a detailed heart scan, the simulation juggles over a billion different variables in order to represent a fluid containing ten-million red blood cells. Using another supercomputer based in Juelich (Germany), the research team has achieved even greater precision with their program that allows for the visualization of the interaction of plasma, red blood cells and even micro-particles. “We can evaluate all of the elements and how they interact with each other; move, stagnate and whirl and turn over each other,” Melchionna adds.
Press release: 3-D model of blood flow by supercomputer predicts heart attacks…
