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A Nonlinear Thin-Wall Model for Vein Buckling

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Abstract

Tortuous or twisted veins are often seen in the retina, cerebrum, and legs (varicose veins) of one-third of the aged population, but the underlying mechanisms are poorly understood. While the collapse of veins under external pressure has been well documented, the bent buckling of long vein segments has not been studied. The objectives of this study were to develop a biomechanical model of vein buckling under internal pressure and to predict the critical pressure. Veins were modeled as thin-walled nonlinear elastic tubes with the Fung exponential strain energy function. Our results demonstrated that veins buckle due to high blood pressure or low axial tension. High axial tension stabilized veins under internal pressure. Our buckling model estimated the critical pressure accurately compared to the experimental measurements. The buckling equation provides a useful tool for studying the development of tortuous veins.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by a CAREER award (0644646) from the National Science Foundation, a research grant (R01HL095852) and an MBRS-RISE fellowship (GM60655) from the National Institute of Health, and Grant 10928206 from NSF of China. The authors thank Dr. Jay Humphrey of Texas A&M University for his helpful input.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Texas at San Antonio, San Antonio, TX, 78249, USA

    Avione Y. Lee & Hai-Chao Han

  2. Biomedical Engineering Program, UTSA-UTHSCSA, San Antonio, TX, USA

    Avione Y. Lee & Hai-Chao Han

  3. Institute of Mechanobiology and Medical Engineering, Shanghai Jiaotong University, Shanghai, China

    Hai-Chao Han

Authors
  1. Avione Y. Lee
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  2. Hai-Chao Han
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Correspondence to Hai-Chao Han.

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Associate Editor Yi-Ren Woo oversaw the review of this article.

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Lee, A.Y., Han, HC. A Nonlinear Thin-Wall Model for Vein Buckling. Cardiovasc Eng Tech 1, 282–289 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13239-010-0024-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13239-010-0024-4

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