Abstract
Introduction: Employing of gaseous plugs
inside a vein for preventing of blood flow to
the damaged or cancerous tissues has been
known as a gas embolism in the medicine. In
this research, a numerical investigation has
been carried out on the delivery of the liquid
drug DDFP, encapsulated in the microlipidcoated
spheres (MLCSs), to target the human
vein for construction of the gaseous plug
inside the veins.
Methods: The encapsulated liquid drug DDFP were delivered to the vein by injection of an
emulsion. Releasing of the liquid drug DDFP results in an explosive growth of a gaseous plug inside
the vein. The targeted vein was served as a rigid cylinder with a compliant coating. The boundary
integral equation method has been employed for the numerical simulation of the hydrodynamic
behavior of the gaseous plug inside the vein.
Results: Numerical results showed that in the case of a rigid cylinder vein with an internal compliant
coating, the maximum volume of the gaseous plug was smaller than the case of just a rigid cylinder
vein. Furthermore, its elapsed time from the instant of bubble generation to the instant when the
bubble reaches its maximum volume was shorter. Numerical results also showed that the compliant
coating on the internal wall of the rigid cylindrical vein had a tendency of reducing the impact of
the explosive growth of the gaseous plug.
Conclusion: This numerical research showed that the compliant coating on the internal wall of
the rigid cylindrical vein had the tendency of reducing the impact of the impulsive growth of the
gaseous plug. Therefore, in the case of having severed arteriosclerosis, treatment of the cancerous
or damaged tissues by use of the gaseous embolism must be done very carefully in order to prevent
the hazardous effects of the gaseous plug’s impulsive growth.