Rate of Blood Flow and Cardiac Output

by Victor Chang

Submitted : Fall 2012

The goal of this project was to find a way to relate some important aspects of medicine to the math of calculus. The two subjects addressed in this project are the rate of blood flow and cardiac output. The approach to blood flow was taken by using Poiseuille’s Equation. This equation relates blood flow to three main factors: viscosity, length, and pressure. For the problem discussed, the values provided were simply plugged into the equation along with the appropriate units to provide an answer. The second problem, discussing cardiac output was done by taking the primary experimental results from a well performed experiment and making the necessary calculations to find cardiac output. These calculations consisted of plotting graphs, eliminating the over circulation curve, and solving for cardiac output using the Stewart Hamilton equation. Results for both problems seem reasonable and in range; which provides a sense of security in the use of calculus to solve for these problems.

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