Z cyklu "Nasi w świecie" – odcinek 2: Australia – dr inż. Daniel Jodko

                              My adventure with Australia began in 2017 thanks to the students from the Lodz Solar Team, who participated in the Bridgestone World Solar Challenge (BWSC), the largest international solar-powered car race in the world. As a member of the crew, I had the opportunity to face the challenge of covering 3,000 km from Darwin to Adelaide twice, getting to know the interior of the continent and the amazing people forming the Lodz Solar Team and other teams.

Regardless of my experiences with the BWSC race, thanks to the support of the National Agency for Academic Exchange, I have started a scientific research collaboration with the team of Professor Tracie Barber from the University of New South Wales (UNSW) in Sydney. Professor Barber's team focuses on studying blood flows with particular emphasis on arteriovenous fistulas, which are a type of vascular access performed in hemodialysis patients. The fistula is created by surgically connecting the patient's vein and artery. It is characterized by non-physiological and disturbed blood flow, which is the subject of my scientific interest. It turns out that computer simulations known to engineers can be used to investigate hemodynamic phenomena that play a crucial role in the etiology of complications associated with the creation and use of the fistula itself. Utilizing numerical methods allows for the analysis of blood flow with high spatiotemporal resolution and complements imaging diagnostics methods.

Thanks to the well-established collaboration between Professor Barber's team and the nearby hospital's team of doctors, I had access to valuable research material obtained using non-invasive ultrasonographic examinations for specific patients. The technique developed at UNSW for reconstructing anatomical structures allows for regular and patient-safe in vivo measurements, thus enabling follow-up studies. Thanks to this, I had the opportunity to conduct an analysis of the fistula maturation process, which lasts from its creation until the point when it can be used for the first hemodialysis. The implementation of the fluid-structure interaction (FSI) technique used by me complements the methodology previously employed at UNSW, making my project valuable for both parties. The conducted research allowed for the evaluation of the usefulness of maturation models proposed earlier, analysis of factors affecting the susceptibility of blood vessel walls during FSI simulations, qualitative and quantitative analysis of blood flow during maturation and beyond, assessment of the impact of blood viscosity on the results of computer simulations of blood flow, and provided many other valuable insights.

The project also enabled the creation of a partnership between the Lodz University of Technology and the University of New South Wales, which will be further developed in future scientific projects.

See also: a video report from Bridgestone World Solar Challenge 2017: „Lodz Solar Team. Eagle Two - Wyprawa przez Antypody (BWSC 2017 Dokument):”