Eur. Phys. J. Plus (2019) 134: 81
https://doi.org/10.1140/epjp/i2019-12428-2

Regular Article

Computer modelling of peristalsis-driven intrauterine fluid flow in the presence of electromagnetohydrodynamics

¹ Department of Mathematics, Avvaiyar Government College for Women, 609 602, Karaikal, Puducherry-U.T., India
² Department of Mechanical Engineering, Manipal University, 303007, Jaipur, Rajasthan, India
³ Department of Science and Humanities, National Institute of Technology, 246174, Uttarakhand, India
⁴ Department of Applied Mechanics, Motilal Nehru National Institute of Technology, 211004, Allahabad, Prayagraj, UP, India

^* e-mail: dtripathi@nituk.ac.in

Received: 1 August 2018
Accepted: 25 November 2018
Published online: 28 February 2019

Abstract

The intrauterine fluid motion is responsible for embryo transport and its implantation at fundus. It is believed that myometrial contractions induced by peristaltic propulsion and pressure gradient typically regulate the intrauterine fluid movement. Several factors like changes in the mechanical behavior of uterus with age, hormonal variations, number of pregnancies, and mode of delivery (vaginal delivery versus cesarean), and any gestation may impair this mechanism. There are limited reports which indicate that the intrauterine fluid movement is possible to control with the help of external electric or magnetic fields. However, there are very few studies that investigate the intrauterine fluid motion in the presence of aforementioned external stimuli. This encouraged us to develop a computer model to study intrauterine fluid movement induced by peristalsis in the presence of electro-magnetohydrodynamics. Uterus geometry is idealized as a tapered micro-channel, whereas the Williamson fluid model is used to represent the intrauterine fluid. The Debye-Hückel linearization and perturbation method are employed to obtain the mathematical solution for fluid motion in the presence of any external field. The effect of the Debye-Hückel parameter, Helmholtz-Smoluchowski velocity, zeta potential and Hartmann number on pumping characteristics, flow characteristics, shear stress and trapping are studied to analyze the sensitivity of the fluid model. Overall, this study presents a model to understand the behavior of the intrauterine fluid motion in the presence of electric and magnetic fields. The model and associated results may be encouraged and may helpful for biomedical engineers in the design and development of such biomicrofluidic devices which can transport the embryo at a suitable location of the uterus for implantation.