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1 Biomedical Engineering, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA, USA
* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: gkassab{at}uci.edu.
The heart muscle is nourished by a complex system of blood vessels that make up the coronary circulation. Here we show that the design of the coronary circulation has a functional hierarchy. A full anatomical model of the coronary arterial tree, containing millions of blood vessels down to the capillary vessels, was simulated based on previously measured porcine morphometric data. A network analysis of blood flow through every vessel segment was carried out based on the laws of fluid mechanics and appropriate boundary conditions. Our results show an abrupt change in cross-sectional area that demarcates the transition from epicardial to intramyocardial coronary arteries (IMCA). Furthermore, a similar pattern of blood flow was observed with a corresponding transition from epicardial to IMCA. These results suggest functional differences between the two types of vessels. An additional abrupt change occurs in the IMCA in relation to flow velocity. Proximal to these vessels the velocity is fairly uniform but drops significantly distal to those vessels towards the capillary branches. This finding suggests functional differences between large and small IMCA. Collectively, these observations suggest a novel functional hierarchy of the coronary vascular tree and provide direct evidence of a structure-function relation.
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