Pulsatile flow - Chapter 4 Flashcards
For continuous flow in a rigid tube, what are the 3 main influences on flow? (laws)
- Bernoulli’s Principle
- Pouseuille’s Law
- Reynolds Number
Explain Bernoulli’s principle in words?
An increase in speed of fluid occurs simultaneously with a decrease of static pressure or the fluid’s potential energy
What is Bernoulli’s principle derived from?
The conservation of energy and Newton’s second law of motion
What does Poiseuille’s law state?
That flow rate is proportional to the radius to the power of 4
What is the difference between velocity waveforms and flow waveforms?
They will have the same shapes, but units will be different
v = m/s
flow = ms-3
How many radians are in 360 degrees?
2 Pi radians
What are harmonic frequencies?
The simple component sine waves that make up complex waveforms
What are fundamental frequencies?
The lowest frequency of a series of harmonic frequencies that makes up a waveform.
- aka first harmonic
It has the same frequency as the repitition frequency of the complex waveform
What is the fundamental frequency of arterial waveforms?
Heart rate
What are the second and third harmonics?
Sine waves at 2 and 3 times the frequency of the fundamental frequency
What is Fourier Analysis?
Analysis of the amplitude and phase of each harmonic
In theory, how many harmonics can a waveform have?
Infinite
What happens to amplitude as harmonics get higher?
Amplitude decreases
What is the Moens-Korteweg equation?
it determines the speed at which pulse pressure wave travels down an artery
What is Poiseuillie’s law
Change in pressure = (8uLQ) / Pi R**4
What does a negative phase mean?
The waveform lags behind the reference waveform
How do you obtain the original waveform from the harmonics?
You add each harmonic with the correct amplitude and phase
What are continuous or zero-frequency components of waveforms?
The components that give mean amplitude of waveform
What is the Moens-Korteweg equation?
Speed of blood c = Sqrt( E h / 2 r p)
h = wall thickness
p = fluid density
E = rigidity of vessel wall
Why is the true speed of sound by a pulse pressure wave slightly higher than that of the Moens-Korteweg equation
Because compressibility of the wall must be taken into account - wall thickness decreases as it stretches
What are 5 key points of the Moens-Korteweg equation?
- Pulse speed will increase as vessel radius decreases
- Pulse speed will increase as elasticity of the vessel wall decreases
- Peripheral arteries are more elastic (and smaller radius) than large arteries, so pulse speed will be higher
- Atherosclerosis and ageing causes decrease in compliance of arteries = faster pulse
- Higher blood pressure will preload artery wall compliance - so wall will be more rigid, so pulse will be higher
What causes the small increase in pressure following exit from a stenosis?
The conversion of kinetic energy back to fluid pressure
What is pressure?
P = F / A
Force divided per unit area
Does Poiseuille’s law apply to pulsatile or continuous flow?
Continuous
How do you measure pressure difference in pulsatile flow?
Measure instantaneous pressure at different points within the tube
What causes the flow waveform?
The fluid velocity changes caused by the local pressure gradient
Why does peak flow velocity occur before peak pressure?
Flow responds to pressure gradient, rather than pressure itself
- think of surfer ahead of wave
What occurs first: peak flow velocity or peak pressure?
Peak flow velocity
Why does the change in flow lag behind pressure gradient (after first peak)?
Due to Inertia and momentum in the moving column of fluid within the vessel
What does a faster pressure gradient change cause?
A greater lag behind in flow
Is phase lag of flow compared to pressure greater in smaller or larger vessels
Larger vessels
- viscous frictional effects are particularly associated with the boundary layer near the vessel walls
- in wide vessels, walls are further from centre
- so when fluid starts to change direction, it takes longer for the viscous boundary layer to affect the bulk of the fluid
- The bulk of fluid is then initially only affected by inertial forces