Nektar1D is our in-house computer code for solving the nonlinear, one-dimensional (1-D) equations of
blood flow across a specified network of compliant vessels under prescribed boundary and initial conditions. It computes blood pressure, flow, and luminal area waveforms at any point within an arterial network, playing a crucial role in our research, as described
here.
A
reference manual for Nektar1D, including instructions for compiling the code, creating and running simulations, and interpreting results, is available
for download. To
request the necessary files for compiling Nektar1D on your computer along with sample simulations from our articles, please email
jordi.alastruey-arimon@kcl.ac.uk.
For a comprehensive
review of arterial pulse wave haemodynamics and a detailed derivation of the 1-D/0-D governing equations, see
Am J Physiol, 2023, along with its
Technical Supplement. Details on the
numerical scheme used in Nektar1D are available in this
book chapter.
Nektar1D has been verified against
(i) experimental data in a 1:1 scale cardiovascular simulator rig of the aorta and large branches made of silicone tubes (J Biomech,
2011 &
2007),
(ii)
in vivo human (
Heliyon, 2024;
J Royal Soc Interface, 2016) and rabbit (
J. Biomech, 2009) data,
and
(iii) numerical solutions from full 3-D blood flow equations in compliant vessels (J Royal Soc Interface,
2021 &
2016;
Ann Biomed Eng, 2016;
Int J Numer Meth Biomed Engng, 2014).
The discontinous Galerkin scheme in Nektar1D was benchmarked against five other numerical schemes for 1-D blood flow modelling, showing good agreement among all numerical schemes (
Int J Numer Meth Biomed Engng, 2015).
We have developed novel methods to
calibrate 1-D/0-D pulse wave models and analyse the physical mechanisms in simulated pulse waveforms.
We have used Nektar1D to generate
populations of thousands of virtual subjects for
in silico evaluation of pulse wave indices and algorithms (
Biomed Signal Process Control, 2024;
Symmetry, 2021; Am J Physiol,
2019 and
2015;
J Biomech, 2016) and has been applied in
clinically relevant studies, as described here.
Recently, Nektar1D was
coupled to a 3-D cardiac electromechanics model, enabling studies on the effects of pulse wave propagation on cardiac function (
Comput Mech, 2022).