Bridging the Gap Between Simulation and Biology: A Dual-Modelling Approach to Healthy and Atherosclerotic Coronary Artery Haemodynamics

Atherosclerosis, a progressive cardiovascular disease characterised by the accumulation of plaques within the arterial walls, can lead to vessel stenosis, disrupted blood flow and increased risk of myocardial infarction and strokes. Understanding the complex haemodynamic changes that occur in stenosed arteries is critical for improving diagnostic and therapeutic strategies. This study aimed to bridge the methodological gap between computational modelling, specifically computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and fluid-structure interaction (FSI), and tissue-engineered in vitro models to provide a more comprehensive understanding of flow dynamics in both healthy and diseased coronary vessels. CFD and FSI simulations were conducted in COMSOL to evaluate haemodynamic behaviour across a range of vessel wall materials and idealised geometries representing healthy and atherosclerotic coronary arteries. In parallel, silk-based tissue-engineered constructs were developed by electrospinning a structural underlayer, followed by coating with a photocrosslinkable silk hydrogel solution to improve cellular retention and reduce leakage under flow conditions. Although endothelialisation of the silk construct was not achieved, the vessels demonstrated haemodynamic compliance more closely resembling native arteries compared to commonly used resin-based models. Modelling diseased vessels presented challenges, particularly in interfacing obstructions with the silk hydrogel, which exhibited poor adhesion and shrinkage over time, limiting its ability to mimic dynamic vessel wall and plaque behaviour. Despite these limitations, computational results highlighted the advantage of silk-based materials in replication of physiological flow patterns. This hybrid approach of integrating computational and biological modelling offers a promising platform for future applications in medical device testing, diagnostic development and pharmaceutical testing.