Skip to main content
Log in

Vascular mechanics of the coronary artery

  • Published:
Zeitschrift für Kardiologie Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Summary

This paper describes our research into the vascular mechanics of the coronary artery and plaque. The three sections describe the determination of arterial mechanical properties using intravascular ultrasound (IVUS), a constitutive relation for the arterial wall, and finite element method (FEM) models of the arterial wall and atheroma.

Methods: Inflation testing of porcine left anterior descending coronary arteries was conducted. The changes in the vessel geometry were monitored using IVUS, and intracoronary pressure was recorded using a pressure transducer. The creep and quasistatic stress/strain responses were determined.

A Standard Linear Solid (SLS) was modified to reproduce the non-linear elastic behavior of the arterial wall. This Standard Non-linear Solid (SNS) was implemented into an axisymetric thick-walled cylinder numerical model. Finite element analysis models were created for five age groups and four levels of stenosis using the Pathobiological Determinants of Atherosclerosis Youth (PDAY) database.

Results: The arteris exhibited non-linear elastic behavior. The total tissue creep strain was ɛcreep = 0.082±0.018 mm/mm. The numerical model could reproduce both the non-linearity of the porcine data and time dependent behavior of the arterial wall found in the literature with a correlation coefficient of 0.985.

Increasing age had a strong positive correlation with the shoulder stress level, (r = 0.95). The 30% stenosis had the highest shoulder stress due to the combination of a fully formed lipid pool and a thin cap.

Conclusions: Studying the solid mechanics of the arterial wall and the atheroma provide important insights into the mechanisms involved in plaque rupture.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Veress, A., Vince, D., Anderson, P. et al. Vascular mechanics of the coronary artery. Z Kardiol 89 (Suppl 2), S092–S100 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1007/s003920070106

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s003920070106

Navigation