Estimated flow resistance increase in a spiral human coronary artery segment.
Coronary flow estimates were made for a spiral coronary artery segment (identified from a post-mortem replica casting) by using a modified Dean number based on the approximate coil radius of curvature, as suggested earlier. The estimates were found to correlate experimental pressure drop data for helical coiled tubes. Over a physiological range of mean Reynolds numbers from 100 to 400 for blood flow through main coronary arteries, estimates of the flow resistance increase relative to a straight lumen segment ranged from about 20 to 80 percent, and were of similar magnitude to those found in a flow study in a sinuous coronary vessel segment with no spiral.
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LH
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91109, USA.
Banerjee
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RK
D003326:Coronary Circulation / Q000502:physiology*; D003331:Coronary Vessels / Q000502:physiology*; D008955:Models, Cardiovascular; D011312:Pressure; D014655:Vascular Resistance / Q000502:physiology