Numerical modeling of new 4,7-dihydroxycoumarin derivative diffusion within finite element liver model

Abstract

Blood coagulation, also known as blood clot formation, is an essential biochemical process which occurs when a blood vessel is damaged and requires repair [1]. Blood clot development, inevitable to exclude excessive bleeding and damaged area healing, can be detrimental if clots form in blood vessels improperly, leading to various problems- thrombosis, pulmonary embolism, etc. In order to prevent those scenarios, there is a certain need for the development of novel drugs. For that purpose, we have performed computational modeling of a diffusion process of a newly investigated and synthesized 4,7-dihydroxycoumarin derivative. Also, for the purpose of the diffusion modeling process, a smeared modeling concept for gradient-driven mass transport and formulation of a new composite smeared finite element (CSFE) is introduced in [2] and generalized in [3]. CSFE is composed of multiple domains: capillary, extracellular space, cells and organelles, with pressure and concentration for each domain. The domains are coupled by connectivity elements at each node. Here, we implemented this concept to a 3D liver model, which illustrates the applicability of the CSFE element and smeared concept to large biological systems. Special emphasis was placed on the distribution of the potential drug, which was monitored by the flow through the liver and blood vessel network via a purposely developed computational model of the liver. The main goal of the application of computational models is to reduce the financial costs of in vivo experiments, as well as to avoid the direct use of drugs on animals as well as humans.