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Large-amplitude, short-wave peristalsis and its implications for transport

Biomechanics and Modeling in Mechanobiology volume 15, pages 629–642 (2016)Cite this article

Abstract

Valveless, tubular pumps are widespread in the animal kingdom, but the mechanism by which these pumps generate fluid flow is often in dispute. Where the pumping mechanism of many organs was once described as peristalsis, other mechanisms, such as dynamic suction pumping, have been suggested as possible alternative mechanisms. Peristalsis is often evaluated using criteria established in a technical definition for mechanical pumps, but this definition is based on a small-amplitude, long-wave approximation which biological pumps often violate. In this study, we use a direct numerical simulation of large-amplitude, short-wave peristalsis to investigate the relationships between fluid flow, compression frequency, compression wave speed, and tube occlusion. We also explore how the flows produced differ from the criteria outlined in the technical definition of peristalsis. We find that many of the technical criteria are violated by our model: Fluid flow speeds produced by peristalsis are greater than the speeds of the compression wave; fluid flow is pulsatile; and flow speed have a nonlinear relationship with compression frequency when compression wave speed is held constant. We suggest that the technical definition is inappropriate for evaluating peristalsis as a pumping mechanism for biological pumps because they too frequently violate the assumptions inherent in these criteria. Instead, we recommend that a simpler, more inclusive definition be used for assessing peristalsis as a pumping mechanism based on the presence of non-stationary compression sites that propagate unidirectionally along a tube without the need for a structurally fixed flow direction.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank Boyce Griffith for his assistance with the use of IBAMR and to William Kier for his thoughtful advice on this project over the years. This work was funded by a NSF DMS CAREER # 1151478 (to L. Miller) and by a NSF DMS Research and Training Grant # 5-54990-2311 (to R. McLaughlin, R. Camassa, L. Miller, G. Forest, and P. Mucha).

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  1. CB#3250 Phillips Hall, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, 27599, USA

    Lindsay Waldrop & Laura Miller

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  1. Lindsay Waldrop
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  2. Laura Miller
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Correspondence to Lindsay Waldrop.

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Waldrop, L., Miller, L. Large-amplitude, short-wave peristalsis and its implications for transport. Biomech Model Mechanobiol 15, 629–642 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10237-015-0713-x

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Keywords

  • Peristalsis
  • Embryonic heart
  • Fluid dynamics