Professor Malebogo Ngoepe

Towards an Improved Understanding of The Role of Flow in Blood Clot Formation

University of Cape Town

Malebogo Ngoepe is a professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Cape Town (UCT) and serves as the director of UCT’s Centre for Research in Computational and Applied Mechanics (CERECAM).

Her research focuses on applying mechanical engineering principles to human biological systems, particularly in the areas of thrombosis modelling, myocardial infarction therapies, congenital heart disease and curly human scalp hair.

Abstract

Towards an Improved Understanding of The Role of Flow in Blood Clot Formation

Blood clot formation can present as a physiological or pathological feature of the cardiovascular system. The formation of a clot or a thrombus is the result of a careful balance between biochemical and cellular reactions, the state of the vascular endothelium, and blood flow. From a fluid dynamics perspective, continuum methods have enabled exploration of the role of blood flow in clot formation. Convection-diffusion-reaction approaches enable consideration of biochemical reactions, blood flow and the physical impact of the growing clot on the flow field, and vice versa. Numerical studies have also informed the design of clot growth experiments in flowing media, which in turn have provided valuable datasets for partial verification and validation of computational models. The models and methods have been used to explore a number of different thrombosis-related pathologies. In cerebral aneurysms, thrombus development can either stabilize the weakened aneurysm sac or it can accelerate the rupture process. Placement of endovascular devices for treating the aneurysm results in alteration of the flow field, thereby giving rise to variable clot outcomes on a per patient basis. In COVID-related thrombosis, biochemical reaction rates are greatly accelerated, however clot growth cannot be sustained at higher flow rates. Although some progress has been achieved in this area, many challenging questions remain open.

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