Particulate suspension blood flow through a narrow catheterized artery

The problem of blood flow in a narrow catheterized artery has been investigated using a two-phase macroscopic model of blood (i.e., a suspension of red cells in plasma). It is found that the effective viscosity and the frictional resistance increase with hematocrit. Flow characteristics assume lower magnitudes in catheterized artery as compared to uncatheterized artery for any given set of parameters. Numerical results reveal that the effective viscosity and the increased frictional resistance assume their minimal magnitude and consequently the volumetric flow rate assumes its maximal magnitude during the artery catheterization at the catheter size approximately fifty percent of the artery size.