Pressure Wave Propagation in Full-body Arterial Models: A Gateway to Exploring Aging and Hypertension

It is now widely recognized that changes in arterial wall properties have a significant impact on hemodynamic indices such as pressure pulse amplification and pulse wave velocity. It is also becoming increasingly evident that changes in wall mechanics may progress both spatially and temporally (e.g., in age-related arterial stiffening and hypertension). Modeling studies can help delineate how local changes in stiffness affect global hemodynamics. Previously, several modeling studies have investigated blood and pressure in full-body scale arterial trees using one-dimensional formulations. In this paper, we work towards the goal of deepening our understanding of arterial pulse propagation phenomena while incorporating detailed information on localized hemodynamics. To this end, we present the first multi-scale simulation of unsteady blood flow and pressure within a three-dimensional deformable full-body arterial network. This simulation framework builds upon previous advances in fluid-structure interaction, multi-scale outflow boundary conditions, and perivascular tissue support modeling. We consider application examples featuring realistic distributions of spatially and temporally varying mechanical properties. Simulations successfully demonstrate realistic pressure and flow waveforms, regional blood flow distribution, pressure pulse amplification and pulse wave velocity.