Influence of arterial wall thickening on the blood velocity profiles shape

The influence of the arterial wall thickening on time patterns of blood velocity profiles was theoretically investigated. Spatial distribution of velocity during a cardiac cycle was calculated by means of an original mathematical model of blood motion in the arterial vessel. A slight and local increase in wall thickness due to atherosclerotic plaque was simulated. The results confirm that the pressure and flow waveforms as their mean values do not show any significative trace of the wall thickening. On the contrary, the velocity profile shape in the stenotic segment is very different from the one calculated in the unstenotic vessel. This observation suggests that the diagnosis based on velocity profile measurement by improved Doppler devices could enable an early and precise location of pathological sites