Pulse wave velocities in the aorta under radial periodic motion

In the present study, an expression for the pulse wave velocity is derived as a function of the periodic motion through the use of finite deformation theory. The artery is assumed to be a thin-walled elastic cylinder which behaves as a nonlinear anisotropic, homogeneous and incompressible material. The effect of the surrounding tissues is also taken into account in the analysis which based on the use of the strain energy function. Numerical values of the wave velocities are computed from the derived analytical expression using the elastic constants for the in-vivo canine middle descending thoracic aorta as well as for a polyurethane graft used as a arterial prosthesis. The pulse velocity for the polyurethane graft is observed to be abnormally higher than that obtained for the case of an in-vivo artery. The difference in the results obtained for the two cases points out a mismatch in pulse velocity thereby suggesting the polyurethane graft arterial prosthesis is a poor mechanical model of a real artery