Peripheral Artery Disease (P.A.D.): Vascular Hemodynamic Simulation Using a Printed Circuit Board (PCB) Design

Area of Science:

• Biomedical Engineering
• Electrical Engineering
• Fluid Dynamics

Background:

• Arterial stenosis causes complex, nonlinear changes in vascular impedance.
• Real-time investigation is difficult with current benchtop or computational fluid dynamics (CFD) models.

Purpose of the Study:

• Develop a low-cost printed circuit board (PCB) analog.
• Reproduce hemodynamic effects of progressive arterial stenosis using R-L-C electrical components to map vascular mechanics.

Main Methods:

• Constructed a lumped-parameter electrical network where voltage represents pressure and current represents flow.
• Used a variable resistor to simulate focal stenosis, incrementally adjusted for progressive narrowing.
• Established physiological correspondence using established relationships between electrical components and vascular properties (e.g., R=8μl/πr⁴).

Main Results:

• The PCB analog showed a monotonic rise in output voltage and peak-to-peak voltage with increasing simulated stenosis.
• Observed a distinct inflection point beyond mid-range narrowing, consistent with theoretical pressure loss predictions.
• Qualitative trends matched 0D and CFD analyses, with minimal changes for mild stenosis (≤25%) and sharp increases for moderate to severe stenosis (≥50%).

Conclusions:

• The PCB analog effectively replicates arterial stenosis hemodynamic signatures in real time and at low cost.
• Offers a valuable tool for education and research, enabling rapid visualization of vascular behavior.
• Future work will refine calibration, quantify uncertainty, and validate against physiological measurements and CFD simulations.