An Encounter With Lattice Boltzmann for Biomedical Applications: Interactive Simulation to Support Clinical and Design Decisions

Abstract

Medical device design for personalized medicine requires sophisticated tools for optimization of biomechanical and biofluidic devices. This paper investigates a new real-time tool for simulating structural and fluid scenarios—ansys Discovery Live—and we evaluate its capability in the fluid domain through benchmark flows that all involve steady-state flow at the inlet and zero pressure at the outlet. Three scenarios are reported: (i) Laminar flow in a straight pipe, (ii) vortex shedding from the Karman vortex, and (iii) nozzle flows as characterized by an FDA benchmark geometry. The solver uses a lattice Boltzmann method requiring a high-performance GPU (nVidiaGTX1080, 8GB RAM). Results in each case were compared with the literature and demonstrated credible solutions, all delivered in near real-time: (i) The straight pipe delivered parabolic flow after an appropriate entrance length (plug flow inlet conditions), (ii) the Karman vortex demonstrated appropriate vortex shedding as a function of Reynolds number, characterized by Strouhal number in both the free field and within a pipe, and (iii) the FDA benchmark geometry generated results consistent with the literature in terms of variation of velocity along the centerline and in the radial direction, although deviation from experimental validation was evident in the sudden expansion section of the geometry. This behavior is similar to previously reported results from Navier–Stokes solvers. A cardiovascular stenosis example is also considered, to provide a more direct biomedical context. The current software framework imposes constraints on inlet/outlet boundary conditions, and only supports limited control of solver discretization without providing full field vector flow data outputs. Nonetheless, numerous benefits result from the interactive interface and almost real-time solution, providing a tool that may help to accelerate the arrival of improved patient-specific medical devices.