ANALYSIS OF HUMAN PULMONARY CIRCULATION: A BIOENGINEERING APPROACH

This chapter presents a bioengineering approach to study human pulmonary circulation based on the principles of continuum mechanics in conjunction with detailed measurements of pulmonary vascular geometry, vascular elasticity, and blood rheology. Experimental data are used to construct a mathematical model of pulsatile flow in the human lung. Input impedance of every order of pulmonary blood vessels is calculated under physiological condition, and pressure-flow relation of the whole lung is predicted theoretically. The influence of variations in vessel geometry and elasticity on impedance spectra is analyzed. The goal is to understand the detailed pulmonary blood pressure-flow relationship in the human lung for clinical application.