Flexural pulse wave velocity in blood vessels

Area of Science:

• Biomedical Engineering
• Cardiovascular Physiology
• Wave Mechanics

Background:

• Arteriosclerosis leads to arterial stiffening, a key cardiovascular disease risk factor.
• Pulse wave velocity (PWV) of symmetrical waves is a biomarker, related to arterial stiffness via the Moens-Korteweg (MK) equation.
• A recently observed antisymmetric flexural wave in arteries is highly dispersive, offering potential for new diagnostic applications.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a theoretical framework for analyzing flexural pulse waves in arteries.
• To establish an equivalent to the MK equation for these dispersive waves.
• To explore the potential of flexural waves for monitoring arterial stiffness and detecting atheromatous plaque.

Main Methods:

• Developed a beam-based theory to model flexural pulse wave propagation.
• Derived approximate analytical solutions from the beam theory.
• Conducted experiments using soft polymer artery phantoms to observe flexural wave dispersion.
• Performed numerical simulations to validate wave speed dependencies.

Main Results:

• Derived an analytical expression for flexural pulse wave speed based on beam theory.
• Experimental results showed good agreement with the derived analytical expression.
• Numerical simulations confirmed that wave speed depends on elastic and geometric parameters at low frequencies.

Conclusions:

• The developed beam theory provides a framework for understanding flexural pulse waves in arteries.
• This research bridges a theoretical gap, enabling quantitative analysis of flexural waves.
• Potential clinical applications include arterial age estimation and arterial pressure measurement through analysis of flexural wave properties.