A Preliminary Theoretical Study of Arterial Pressure Perturbations Under Shock Acceleration

The artero-venous system is often stressed by accelerative perturbation, not only during exceptional performances, but also in normal life. For example, when the body is subject to fast pressure changes, accelerative perturbations combined with a change in hydrostatic pressure could have severe effects on the circulation. In such cases a preliminary mathematical inquiry, whose results allow qualitative evaluation of the perturbation produced is useful. Pressure variations are studied in this work when the body is subjected both to rectilinear and rotational movements as well as posture change. The dominant modes of the hemodynamic oscillations are emphasized and the numerical simulation results presented. The artery model used for simulation is obviously simplified with respect to the anatomical structure of an artery. Nevertheless, behavior of the main arteries (like the common carotid and aorta) can be approximately described, choosing suitable model parameters. The frequency of blood oscillations strictly depends on the Young modulus of the arterial wall. This connection could be employed for new clinical tests on the state of the arteries.