Analysis and preparation of rotational flow mechanism of artificial blood vessel with spiral folds on inner wall.

The swirling motion of blood flow is a widespread physiological flow phenomenon in the human body. The probability of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases could be effectively reduced by swirling blood flow. In this study, first we proposed a new integrated vascular model with spiral folds on the inner wall. Based on the model, fluid-solid coupling simulation analyses of blood and blood vessels were performed. The results indicate that the spiral folds cause the swirling flow. This model provides new insights that may be of use for developing methods to generate swirling flow. Second, we discussed the specific effects of different fold parameters' characteristics on swirling flow. We found that increasing the pitch or cross-sectional area enhanced the swirling flow, specifically increasing cross-sectional diameter by 0.2 mm, wall shear stress by about 2 mm Hg, and deformation by about 0.2 µm. Finally, we proposed a new method to prepare an integrated artificial blood vessel based on the heteromorphic channel co-extrusion method; the inner wall of this blood vessel had a spiral fold structure and was micron scale in width. This study offers important guidance for the design of interventional treatments involving swirling flow.