Numerical modeling of the microvascular network structure based on oxygen transport efficiency: topology optimization

Abstract

The cerebral microvascular network plays an important role in oxygen supply to the cerebral cortex and has a complex and characteristic structures. The physiological significance of these characteristic geometries are open questions. This study aims to develop a computational model of the cerebral microvascular network based on oxygen transport efficiency using topology optimization. We considered the topology optimization problem of the blood flow domain in the cerebral cortex to maximize the oxygen transport efficiencies in the brain tissue. Numerical examples demonstrated that acquired vessel structures became complex with many local branching with increasing the inlet pressure. These complex vessel shapes led to induce uniform oxygen supply in a whole brain cortex