COMSOL Multiphysics
COMSOL Multiphysics (Burlington, MA) is a powerful finite element solver that enables the user to model various physics phenomena individually or simultaneously in one, two or three dimensions. COMSOL can solve for both steady-state and time-dependent problems over a wide variety of scientific domains from heat transfer to structural mechanics.
Within CABER to date, COMSOL has been primarily used to solve the equations of momentum and mass transport. The modelling of mass transport from drug eluting stents (DES) is a complex problem as it requires the definition of the artery wall, the stent and the blood flowing through the lumen. Variations in arterial composition and geometry, the extent of blood recirculation, stent design and drug properties are just a few of the parameters that are examined to assess mass transport capabilities of DES. This resulted in identifying new DES design features in CABER that increased the therapeutic levels of drugs within the artery wall. COMSOL has also been used to analyse flow profiles within realistic models of the vasculature, including the carotid arteries and the arteriovenous fistulae. COMSOL has recently been used to look at the designs of anodes and cathodes in relation to the electric field between them in order to optimise nanofibre deposition within an electrospinning rig built within CABER.