Experimental study on the pressure propagation in viscoelastic tube mimicking blood vessels

Pulse wave is the displacement of surface skin and has similar characteristics with the intravascular pressure wave. We have proposed an evaluation method of arterial stiffness from the pulse wave at left carotid artery. However, the properties of carotid vessel are different due to the location. In this study, we studied experimentally the pressure propagation in viscoelastic tubes having different stiffness. Using blood vessel mimicking tubes, we compared the theoretical results with the measured results. Experiments: Two tubes (A and B) with different Young´s modulus (200 kPa and 80 kPa, respectively) were fabricated by polyurethane gel. A pulse flow was input into the connected tube (A+B, B+A) by pump. The results prove the availability of 1D theoretical model even if the carotid artery has difference property due to the position.