Flow measurements in collapsed stenotic arterial models

The details of flow field through an in vitro model of a collapsed and unclasped stenotic artery are quantified using laser Doppler anemometry. High velocities are found in the lateral channels that run along each side of the collapsed section distal to the stenosis due to the fact that the cross-sectional area of these channels is much smaller than the open tube. In the fully open, non-collapsed state, these sites of high velocity are regions of low velocity magnitude flow reversal and separation. Thus, in an artery that collapses for only part of the cardiac cycle, it is expected that low negative wall shear stress alternates with high forward wall shear stress.