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1 Biomedical Engineering, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA, USA
2 Department of Environmental Health, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, CA, USA
3 Department of Radiological Sciences, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA, USA
* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: gkassab{at}uci.edu.
A hemodynamic analysis of coronary blood flow must be based on measured branching pattern and vascular geometry of the coronary vasculature. We have recently developed a computer reconstruction of the entire coronary arterial tree of the porcine heart based on previously measured morphometric data. In the present study, we carried out an analysis of blood flow distribution through a network of millions of vessels that includes the entire coronary arterial tree down to the first capillary branch. The pressure and flow are computed throughout the coronary arterial tree based on conservation of mass and momentum and appropriate pressure boundary conditions. We found a power-law relationship between the diameter and flow of each vessel branch. The exponent is approximately 2.2, which deviates from Murray's prediction of 3.0. Furthermore, we found the total arterial equivalent resistance to be 0.93, 0.77 and 1.28 mmHg/ml/s/g for the RCA, LAD and LCx vessels, respectively. The significance of the present study is that it yields a predictive model that incorporates some of the factors controlling coronary blood flow. The model of normal hearts will serve as a physiologic reference state. Pathological states can then be studied in relation to changes in model parameters that alter coronary perfusion.
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