The challenge of hexahedral meshing of arterial geometry

Resumen

This paper describes the process of generating a hexahedral mesh of the arterial geometry. From the finite element meshing point of view, arterial geometry may be regarded as a volume assembly in which every segment can be meshed separately except in the shared surfaces. The arterial assembly is made up of three subvolumes: arterial wall, artery lumen and atherosclerotic plaque. A three-dimensional geometric model of each arterial segment has been reconstructed using intravascular ultrasound images (IVUS) and biplane angiographies. Generation of hexahedral meshes for biological models with different physical characteristics usually requires the use of different meshing algorithms for each region. Vessel bifurcations have been modeled by joining the surfaces of the reconstructed segments, using a technique based on NURBS. Therefore, this paper describes the combination of decomposition and meshing techniques required to meet the challenge of generating hexahedral elements for arterial models. A variety of verification algorithms have been used in order to calculate several algebraic quality metrics and assess the quality of the finite element meshes generated.