title: Impact of coronary bifurcation morphology on wave propagation.
abstract: The branching pattern of the coronary vasculature is a key determinant of its function and plays a crucial role in shaping the pressure and velocity wave forms measured for clinical diagnosis. However, although multiple scaling laws have been proposed to characterize the branching pattern, the implications they have on wave propagation remain unassessed to date. To bridge this gap, we have developed a new theoretical framework by combining the mathematical formulation of scaling laws with the wave propagation theory in the pulsatile flow regime. This framework was then validated in multiple species using high-resolution cryomicrotome images of porcine, canine, and human coronary networks. Results demonstrate that the forward well-matchedness (no reflection for pressure/flow waves traveling from the coronary stem toward the microcirculation) is a salient feature in the coronary vasculature, and this result remains robust under many scenarios of the underlying pulse wave speed distribution assumed in the network. This result also implies a significant damping of the backward traveling waves, especially for smaller vessels (radius, <0.3 mm). Furthermore, the theoretical prediction of increasing area ratios (ratio between the area of the mother and daughter vessels) in more symmetric bifurcations found in the distal circulation was confirmed by experimental measurements. No differences were observed by clustering the vessel segments in terms of transmurality (from epicardium to endocardium) or perfusion territories (left anterior descending, left circumflex, and right coronary artery).
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Engineering, Division of Imaging Sciences and Biomedical Engineering, King's College London, London, United Kingdom, European Union.
authors.forename: Simone
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Rivolo
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Engineering, Division of Imaging Sciences and Biomedical Engineering, King's College London, London, United Kingdom, European Union.
authors.forename: Lucas
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Hadjilucas
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Engineering, Division of Imaging Sciences and Biomedical Engineering, King's College London, London, United Kingdom, European Union.
authors.forename: Matthew
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sinclair
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Engineering and Physics, Academic Medical Center, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Pepijn
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: van Horssen
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Engineering and Physics, Academic Medical Center, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Jeroen
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: van den Wijngaard
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiovascular Imaging, Division of Imaging Sciences and Biomedical Engineering, King's College London, London, United Kingdom, European Union; and.
authors.forename: Roman
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Wesolowski
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiovascular Imaging, Division of Imaging Sciences and Biomedical Engineering, King's College London, London, United Kingdom, European Union; and.
authors.forename: Amedeo
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Chiribiri
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Engineering and Physics, Academic Medical Center, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Maria
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-7034-5843
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Siebes
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Engineering, The University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand.
authors.forename: Nicolas P
authors.initials: NP
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Engineering, Division of Imaging Sciences and Biomedical Engineering, King's College London, London, United Kingdom, European Union; jack.lee@kcl.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Jack
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lee
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001794:Blood Pressure / Q000502:physiology*; D003326:Coronary Circulation / Q000502:physiology*; D003331:Coronary Vessels / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000502:physiology*; D004285:Dogs; D006801:Humans; D008833:Microcirculation / Q000502:physiology*; D008955:Models, Cardiovascular; D011673:Pulsatile Flow / Q000502:physiology*; D013552:Swine
keywords: branching pattern; coronary vasculature; scaling law; wave propagation