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Three-Dimensional Hemodynamics in the Human Pulmonary Arteries Under Resting and Exercise Conditions

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Abstract

The biomechanical forces associated with blood flow have been shown to play a role in pulmonary vascular cell health and disease. Therefore, the quantification of human pulmonary artery hemodynamic conditions under resting and exercise states can be useful in investigating the physiology of disease development and treatment outcomes. In this study, a combined magnetic resonance imaging and computational fluid dynamics approach was used to quantify pulsatile flow fields, wall shear stress (WSS), oscillations in WSS (OSI), and energy efficiency in six subject-specific models of the human pulmonary vasculature with high spatial and temporal resolution. Averaging over all subjects, WSS was found to increase from 19.8 ± 4.0 to 51.8 ± 6.7 dynes/cm2, and OSI was found to decrease from 0.094 ± 0.016 to 0.081 ± 0.015 in the proximal pulmonary arteries between rest and exercise conditions (p < 0.05). These findings demonstrate the localized, biomechanical effects of exercise. Furthermore, an average decrease of 10% in energy efficiency was noted between rest and exercise. These data indicate the amount of energy dissipation that typically occurs with exercise and may be useful in future surgical planning applications.

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Acknowledgments

This research was supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. 0205741, the National Institutes of Health through the NIH Roadmap for Medical Research Grant U54 GM072970 and Grant P41 RR09784, the Vera Moulton Wall Center for Pulmonary Vascular Disease, and the Benchmark Capital Congenital Cardiovascular Bioengineering Fellowship.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, 94305, USA

    Beverly T. Tang, Tim A. Fonte & Charles A. Taylor

  2. Department of Radiology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, 94305, USA

    Frandics P. Chan

  3. Department of Medicine, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, 94305, USA

    Philip S. Tsao

  4. Department of Pediatrics – Cardiology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, 94305, USA

    Jeffrey A. Feinstein

  5. Department of Bioengineering, Stanford University, Clark Center, E350, 318 Campus Dr., Stanford, CA, 94305-5431, USA

    Jeffrey A. Feinstein & Charles A. Taylor

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  1. Beverly T. Tang
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Correspondence to Charles A. Taylor.

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Associate Editor Kerry Hourigan oversaw the review of this article.

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Tang, B.T., Fonte, T.A., Chan, F.P. et al. Three-Dimensional Hemodynamics in the Human Pulmonary Arteries Under Resting and Exercise Conditions. Ann Biomed Eng 39, 347–358 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10439-010-0124-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10439-010-0124-1

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