Magnetohydrodynamics of blood flow.
The changes in hydrostatic pressure and electrical potentials across vessels in the human vasculature in the presence of a large static magnetic field are estimated to determine the feasibility of in vivo NMR spectroscopy at fields as high as 10 T.A 10-T magnetic field changes the vascular pressure in a model of the human vasculature by less than 0.2%. An exact solution to the magnetohydrodynamic equations describing a conducting fluid flowing transverse to a static magnetic field in a nonconducting, straight, circular tube is used. This solution is compared to an approximate solution that assumes that no magnetic fields are induced in the fluid and that has led previous investigators to predict significant biological effects from static magnetic fields. Experimental results show that the exact solution accurately predicts the magnetohydrodynamic slowing of 15% NaCl flowing transverse to 2.3- and 4.7-T magnetic fields for fluxes below 0.5 liter/min while the approximate solution predicts a much more retarded flow.
Keltner
J R
JR
Donner Laboratory, Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, California 94720.
Roos
M S
MS
Brakeman
P R
PR
Budinger
T F
TF
D001775:Blood Circulation / Q000502:physiology*; D001783:Blood Flow Velocity; D001790:Blood Physiological Phenomena; D001794:Blood Pressure / Q000502:physiology*; D001808:Blood Vessels / Q000502:physiology; D001809:Blood Viscosity; D002199:Capillary Permeability; D004574:Electromagnetic Fields; D006801:Humans; D008280:Magnetics; D008954:Models, Biological; D008955:Models, Cardiovascular; D012212:Rheology