Mapping deposition of particles in reconstructed models of human arteries

Targeted drug delivery to diseased vasculature, such as atherosclerotic lesions, is a multistep process, which is based on the transport of drug carriers to a selected region and their deposition at the desired destination. Current modeling approaches, including microfluidics and animal models, fail to accurately simulate this multi-scale process in human arteries, where blood flow is dominant. Here we study particle deposition in endothelialized 3D reconstructed models of the human carotid bifurcation under physiological hemodyamic conditions. Our results showed that particle localization is highly dependent on vessel geometry and local flow features. Additionally, while strongly adhesive particles tend to adhere more profoundly at high-shear regions, associated with athero-thrombosis, enhanced deposition at vascular flow regions, associated with inflammation and plaque accumulation, e.g., recirculation flows, can be achieved using weakly adhesive particles. Moreover, pulsatile flow as well as presence of blood cells significantly reduce particle adhesion and affect their deposition pattern. These findings highlight the key role of vessel geometry, hemodynamics and particle characteristics in the optimizing vascular targeting nano-carriers.