Pulsatile blood flow in a stenosed artery—a theoretical model

To understand the special flow conditions which may be produced by the presence of stenosis in arteries, an analytical solution is obtained for pulsatile laminar flow in an elliptic tube. Blood is approximated by a Newtonian model and the geometry of the stenosis is introduced by specifying the change in area of cross-section of the stenosed artery with axial distance. The results for velocity, pressure, shear stress and impedance are presented. These are compared with the steady flow results as well as with those of the flow in a stenosed tube of circular cross-section. The study indicates that the fluid dynamic characteristics of the flow are affected by the percentage of stenosis as well as the geometry of the stenosis. The frequency of oscillation is also found to influence shearing stress and the impedance.