Innovative Applications of CFD in Biomedical Engineering Solutions

Is it time to transform the way you design and test medical devices?

Computational fluid dynamics services are now integral to biomedical engineering. This technology simplifies complex problems by visualising them as simulations, to save lives.

Here’s the real scoop…

The era of test prototypes is over. Engineers now use simulations to test blood flow, artificial heart valves, drug delivery systems without ever having a physical prototype.

Mind-blowing, right?

In This Blog Post We Will Uncover:

• Why Biomedical Engineering Needs CFD
• How Blood Flow Simulation Works
• Medical Device Applications That Matter
• The Future of Computational Fluid Dynamics Services

Why Biomedical Engineering Needs CFD

Computational fluid dynamics services can solve problems that would otherwise be too challenging for conventional approaches.

Blood is a non-Newtonian fluid. This means it flows through vessels with different shapes, sizes and surface characteristics. It interacts with embedded medical devices and can behave very differently under specific conditions.

This is where cfd modelling becomes essential for biomedical engineering applications. These simulations process large amounts of data at once to visualise biological fluid behaviour on a scale and at a level of detail that traditional methods cannot match.

Traditional prototyping, animal testing and clinical trials come too late in the development process to be effective in many situations.

Physical prototypes are costly to produce, and often must be discarded as the design evolves. Animal testing can be expensive, time-consuming and is often subject to regulation or ethical concerns. Clinical trials will not catch many of the fundamental design errors that could be spotted during simulation.

And, according to Market Growth Reports, over 9,800 CFD simulations of blood flow and drug delivery were conducted in the healthcare industry during 2024 alone.

These simulations can also model multiple scenarios simultaneously. The possibilities of “what if” are only limited by computational power.

Computational fluid dynamics services give biomedical engineers unprecedented control over the design process. This helps them fully understand the behaviour of fluids inside the human body. Problems can be predicted before products ever reach the patient.

How Blood Flow Simulation Works

Simulation of blood flow is one of the most important applications of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) in biomedical engineering.

Here’s the breakdown…

To start, biomedical engineers build digital models of blood vessels, heart chambers or other medical devices.

Then the math comes into play. Equations that describe the movement of blood through these structures are fed into the simulation. The software crunches the numbers to calculate velocity, pressure and stress at each of thousands of points in the model.

It is a complex series of algorithms. These include the Navier-Stokes equations that govern the flow of fluids. The equations are solved across computational grids with millions of data points. A single simulation can take hours or even days to run.

Wall shear stress measurements are a critical output. These are used to spot areas where blood vessel damage may occur. Low wall shear stress can indicate atherosclerosis risk while high wall shear stress can damage blood vessels.

The Food and Drug Administration in the United States has even published benchmark datasets specifically for validating CFD blood flow simulation.

But here is the icing on the cake…

Computational fluid dynamics services are able to simulate patient-specific conditions that would be next to impossible to replicate in real life. This helps biomedical engineers test extreme cases, rare conditions and unique anatomies without any risk.

Medical Device Applications That Matter

Computational fluid dynamics services have revolutionised the field of medical device development. These simulations are critical for almost every blood-contacting device on the market today.

Ventricular Assist Devices (VADs)

Heart pumps save lives. But their design needs to be precise. Otherwise these devices can cause hemolysis (damage blood cells) and lead to dangerous blood clots. CFD services help optimise impeller designs and minimise these risks.

Artificial Heart Valves

Heart valve replacements require designs that mimic natural blood flow as closely as possible. Computational fluid dynamics services help biomedical engineers see how blood moves through these prosthetics. They also pinpoint potential problem areas.

Stent Design

Stents hold blood vessels open to keep them from collapsing. Computational fluid dynamics services for biomedical applications allow biomedical engineers to analyse the flow of blood around these devices. CFD simulations help predict their long-term performance and efficacy.

Drug Delivery Systems

Effective drug delivery requires getting the medication to the right place on the body at the right dose. Computational fluid dynamics services for drug delivery help optimise the designs of inhalers, nebulisers and other drug delivery devices. Simulations can predict the flow of particles through the airways to optimise drug deposition in target tissues.

A full 33% of healthcare engineering projects now involve CFD analysis according to a Global Growth Insights industry report. This number is only expected to increase over time.

Why Accuracy Matters in Biomedical CFD

Biomedical CFD applications need to be as accurate as possible. Computational fluid dynamics services for medical device design have no margin for error.

Take the following scenario…

Imagine an artificial heart valve that functions flawlessly in standard testing procedures. But what if a patient has an anatomical variation? The valve might fail when it is installed. Traditional tests would never catch this problem.

Computational fluid dynamics services can model these patient-specific conditions before a surgeon ever picks up a scalpel.

Machine learning integration is even more precise than traditional CFD services. These computer programmes can analyse simulation results at a rate and scale that humans can’t. Algorithms can also recognise patterns that a human analyst might miss.

Combining these two technologies is creating what some experts are calling the next frontier in precision medicine.

Accuracy factors in biomedical CFD include:

• Patient-specific geometry modelling
• Simulation of realistic blood properties
• Proper selection of boundary conditions
• Selection of validated turbulence models

Each of these factors are crucial for creating biomedical simulations that are actually an accurate reflection of the real world. Computational fluid dynamics services with any margin of inaccuracy are little more than expensive guesswork.

The Future of Computational Fluid Dynamics Services

The biomedical applications for computational fluid dynamics services are only going to continue to expand.

Over 1,600 hospitals and research laboratories around the world have already implemented CFD technologies for medical device design, as well as fluid therapy systems. This number will only continue to grow over time.

Artificial intelligence is another game-changer. Machine learning algorithms are now being trained to predict simulation outcomes in a fraction of the time it would take traditional simulations. This will allow for many more designs to be optimised in a much shorter period of time.

Emerging trends include:

• Real-time surgical guidance systems
• Personalised patient treatment planning
• Automated design optimisation and simulation
• Cloud-based simulation platforms
• AI-powered prediction models

The CFD industry is predicted to grow to $6.99 Billion by 2034 according to the Global Industry Analysts, Inc. Biomedical engineering applications will be a significant driver of this demand.

This will have real-world implications for the healthcare industry…

Patients will benefit from more thoroughly tested devices than ever before. Surgeons will have access to better tools for planning complex procedures. And biomedical engineers will have a better understanding of biological fluid dynamics than ever before.

Wrapping Things Up

Computational fluid dynamics services are now an essential tool for biomedical engineers. They are critical for safer device designs, more accurate treatment planning and a better understanding of human physiology.

These simulations provide answers to questions that would otherwise be too difficult, too expensive or too time consuming to solve using traditional methods.

Blood flow analysis and drug delivery optimisation are just two examples of how CFD simulations are impacting the biomedical engineering industry.

In summary:

• Computational fluid dynamics services visualise complex biological fluid behaviour
• Blood flow modelling informs safer and more effective cardiovascular device design
• Medical device applications are diverse, from heart pumps to stents
• Accuracy depends on a range of patient-specific and technical factors
• The market for CFD services is rapidly growing and Biomedical applications are a major growth area

Biomedical engineers who want to remain competitive need to have a thorough understanding of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) services. They are the foundation of medical device development in the 21st century.