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Updated: Jun 18, 2026

Three-dimensional Rendering and Analysis of Immunolabeled, Clarified Human Placental Villous Vascular Networks
Published on: March 29, 2018
A mathematical model of intervillous blood flow in the human placentone
I L Chernyavsky1, O E Jensen, L Leach
1Centre for Mathematical Medicine and Biology, School of Mathematical Sciences, University of Nottingham, University Park, Nottingham NG7 2RD, UK.
Abstract:
We present a mathematical model for maternal blood flow in a placental circulatory unit (a placentone), describing flow of maternal blood via Darcy's law and steady advective transport of a dissolved nutrient. The method of images and computational integration along streamlines are employed to find flow and solute concentration distributions, which are illustrated for a range of governing system parameters. The model shows how the calibre of the basal vessels can be a dominant determinant of the maternal blood flow rate through the placentone, given a driving pressure difference between the spiral arteries and decidual veins. The model supports the hypothesis that basal veins are located on the periphery of the placentone in order to optimise delivery of nutrients and suggests the existence of an optimal volume fraction of villous tissue.
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