Submitted on February 17, 2007
Accepted on May 15, 2007
Flow-induced shear strain in intima of porcine coronary arteries
Wei Zhang1, Yi Liu1, and Ghassan S. Kassab2*
1 Biomedical Engineering, Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis, Indianapolis, Indiana, United States
2 Biomedical Engineering, SL-174, Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis, Indianapolis, Indiana, United States
* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: gkassab{at}iupui.edu.
The in vivo circumferential strain has a small variation throughout the vascular system (aorta to arterioles). The axial strain has also been shown to be nearly the same as the circumferential strain under physiological loading. Since the endothelium is mechanically much softer than the media-adventitia in healthy arteries, the porcine intima was considered as a mechanically distinct layer from the media-adventitia in a two-layer computational model. Based on the simulation result, we hypothesize that the flow-induced shear strain in intima can be of similar value as the pressure-induced circumferential strain in healthy coronary arteries even though the shear stress is orders of magnitude smaller than the circumferential stress. The nearly isotropic deformation (circumferential, axial, and shear strains) may have important implications for mechanical homeostasis of endothelial cells, mechanotransduction, growth and remodeling of blood vessels.
