Toward a non-traumatic determination of the rheological properties of the vascular wall

It is possible to show the existence of a biunivocal relationship, at a given time, between the longitudinal velocity profile of a pulsatile flow in a flexible tube on the one hand and the pressure gradient which induces the flow and the mechanical behavior of the wall on the other hand, for an assumed rheological model. From experimental data of velocity profiles, only pressure gradients can be correctly calculated. To determine the elasticity of the material, a theory is developed which requires a knowledge of the time dependence of the wall motion. This theory is tested first on numerically simulated velocity data then verified experimentally with a hydromechanical device.