Lattice Boltzmann simulations of lymphatic pumping

Lymphatic flow plays an important role in the progress of many diseases, including lymphedema and metastasis. However lymphatic pumping and flow is poorly understood. Here, we present a computer model that is based on biological observations of lymphatic pumping. Fluid flow is simulated by a D2Q9 lattice Boltzmann model. The boundary of the vessels moves according to shear-induced nitric oxide production, and wall motion transfers momentum to the fluid to induce flow. Because the model only includes local properties, it can be highly parallelized. In our case we utilize graphic processors (GPU) to achieve high performance computation. We show that the model provides stable pumping over a wide range of parameter values, with optimum flow achieved in the biological ranges. Furthermore, we investigate the efficiency by analyzing the flow rate and pumping frequency in order to compare the behavior of the model with existing in vivo data.