Analysis of Blood flow in Carotid Artery at Various Blood viscosities during Rest and Physical exercise

Blood viscosity has direct effect on cerebral flow, in the sense higher the viscosity lower is the cerebral blood flow. Hence junction of carotid artery (CA), that is prone to the formation of clog is analyzed for flow parameters like velocity and pressure at different values of blood viscosity. CA is extracted from magnetic resonance images and imported into ANSYS. By assuming two conditions of blood flow; one in physical exercise and another in rest condition, flow parameters are assessed for four different viscosity values. Result of this study shows that the pressure is highest in the bifurcation junction of CA which is found to increase with viscosity value. However, the increase in pressure and velocity is aggravated with physical exercise. Therefore, it can be inferred that subjects with elevated blood viscosity due to an underlying pathological condition may have an increased risk of developing atherosclerosis when undergoing physical exercise. Hence, this study could be useful in providing alerts or recommendations regarding the appropriate level of physical exercise for individuals with a higher hematocrit percentage or any physiological condition that leads to increased blood viscosity.