EFFECT OF ATHEROSCLEROSIS ON BLOOD FLOW

by George Gillespie

Submitted : Fall 2014

Atherosclerosis is a medical condition that causes narrowing of the arteries due to a buildup of plaques containing cholesterol. ¹  To better understand blood flow through an artery, it is useful to consider the forces acting upon a fluid traveling through a cylindrical tube.  It has been shown that using a Newtonian model, such as Poiseuille's equation, yields a good approximation for calculating blood flow.²  Volumetric blood flow is directly proportional to the radius raised to the fourth power.  Atherosclerosis that has caused a fifty percent occlusion (blockage) of an artery will decrease the volumetric blood flow rate through an artery by a factor of approximately sixteen.  

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