Modeling blood flow in the arterial system

Abstract

The investigation of arterial blood flow has always been an important topic in physiology. Large proportion of the cardiovascular diseases (arteriosclerosis, vasoconstriction) affects the arterial part of the circulatory system. Physiologists place huge efforts in the improvement of the diagnosis and the treatment of these diseases. During the last decades fluid mechanics has become a powerful tool in the analysis of arterial blood flow. In the current paper a numerical approach for the calculation of one dimensional unsteady blood flow in the arterial network is presented. The continuity and momentum equations are solved using the method of characteristics (MOC). Furthermore a viscoelastic material model is applied to describe the behavior of the arterial walls. The network model of the arterial system is set up using 45 viscoelastic branches. The heart is modeled using an unsteady volume flow rate boundary condition. Arterioles and capillaries are treated as linear resistance boundary conditions. The parame ters of the viscoelastic material model were fine-tuned by comparing the results of the calculation with previously measured blood pressure curves. The resulting model is capable for simulating arteriosclerosis in an arbitrary part of the arterial network. The viscoelastic material model and the calculation method are presented in detail. Results of the calculation are presented and discussed.