Normalized input impedance and arterial decay time over heart period are independent of animal size

1991 ◽  
Vol 261 (1) ◽  
pp. R126-R133 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. Westerhof ◽  
G. Elzinga

The arterial system of mammals in the weight range from 0.6 to 70 kg is characterized by the three-element windkessel, a succinct representation of the arterial tree consisting of the parameters peripheral resistance (Rp), total arterial compliance (C), and aortic characteristic impedance (Zc). The values of these parameters in resting conditions are related to body mass (M). The time constant, or decay time (tau), of the arterial system (defining rate of decay of aortic pressure in diastole), the product of Rp and C, is also evaluated. The dependencies of the heart period (T, inverse of heart rate), and durations of ejection (Ts) and of diastole (Td) in resting conditions are also determined as a function of M. It is found that Rp = Rp0M-0.93; Zc = Zc0M-0.97; and C = C0M+1.23, where Rp0, Zc0, and C0 are proportionality constants. Zc is thus a constant fraction of Rp in all mammals. tau is related to M as tau = tau 0M+0.29; T and Td are related to M as T = T0M+0.27 and Td = Td0M+0.30, where tau 0, T0, and Td0 are proportionality constants. The duration of diastole is thus a constant fraction of T, and the ratios T/tau and Td/tau are independent of M. The findings indicate that arterial input impedance, normalized to aortic Zc and plotted as a function of frequency normalized to heart rate, is similar for all mammals. The finding that the ratio Td/tau is the same in mammals (and Ts/T and stroke volume/M are constant) explains the constancy of pulse pressure (systolic minus diastolic pressure).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

2007 ◽  
Vol 293 (2) ◽  
pp. H1164-H1171 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohammad W. Mohiuddin ◽  
Glen A. Laine ◽  
Christopher M. Quick

Two competing schools of thought ascribe vascular disease states such as isolated systolic hypertension to fundamentally different arterial system properties. The “windkessel school” describes the arterial system as a compliant chamber that distends and stores blood and relates pulse pressure to total peripheral resistance ( Rtot) and total arterial compliance ( Ctot). Inherent in this description is the assumption that arterial pulse wavelengths are infinite. The “transmission school,” assuming a finite pulse wavelength, describes the arterial system as a network of vessels that transmits pulses and relates pulse pressure to the magnitude, timing, and sites of pulse-wave reflection. We hypothesized that the systemic arterial system, described by the transmission school, degenerates into a windkessel when pulse wavelengths increase sufficiently. Parameters affecting pulse wavelength (i.e., heart rate, arterial compliances, and radii) were systematically altered in a realistic, large-scale, human arterial system model, and the resulting pressures were compared with those assuming a classical (2-element) windkessel with the same Rtot and Ctot. Increasing pulse wavelength as little as 50% (by changing heart rate −33.3%, compliances −55.5%, or radii +50%) caused the distributed arterial system model to degenerate into a classical windkessel ( r2 = 0.99). Model results were validated with analysis of representative human aortic pressure and flow waveforms. Because reported changes in arterial properties with age can markedly increase pulse wavelength, results suggest that isolated systolic hypertension is a manifestation of an arterial system that has degenerated into a windkessel, and thus arterial pressure is a function only of aortic flow, Rtot, and Ctot.


1976 ◽  
Vol 40 (3) ◽  
pp. 425-433 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. G. Bottomley ◽  
G. W. Mainwood

A device was designed to provide a “square” pulse of blood flow into the arterial system. Pulses were injected into the carotid artery of the rabbit during transient cardiac arrest. Analysis of pressure response curves generated by the flow provides information as to the state of the arterial tree. With certain assumptions it is possible to estimate from these curves lumped values of peripheral resistance, critical closing pressure, and arterial compliance. In a series of 12 rabbits the mean value of peripheral resistance was found to be 0.21 +/- 0.7 mmHg-ml-1-min and critical closing pressure was estimated to be 23.6 +/- 3.8 mmHg. This method gives two possible values for arterial compliance 0.036 +/- 0.010 and 0.055 +/- 0.010 ml-mm-1 based, respectively, on the rise and decay curves of the pressure response. The theory and limitations of the method are discussed. The use of the method is illustrated in following the response to increased PCO2 and hemorrhage.


1987 ◽  
Vol 252 (6) ◽  
pp. H1275-H1283 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. P. Toorop ◽  
N. Westerhof ◽  
G. Elzinga

We have used a computer-based parameter estimation method to obtain peripheral resistance, total arterial compliance, and characteristic resistance from the measurement of aortic pressure and flow in the open-thorax cat, assuming the three-element windkessel as a model of the systemic arterial tree. The method can be applied on a beat-to-beat basis in the steady state and in transients. We have validated this method by analyzing nonsteady-state data obtained from an electrical analog with fixed values of the resistances and compliance and by showing that the values obtained by this procedure were within 5% of the fixed values of the circuit. Changes in total peripheral resistance and arterial compliance were studied before, during, and after acute heart rate changes in five open-thorax cats with blocked autonomous nervous system. As expected, the peripheral resistance, estimated during the heart rate transient [3.93 +/- 0.94 (SE) kPa X ml-1 X s] was the same as before the transient (3.53 +/- 0.83 kPa X ml-1 X s); total arterial compliances were also identical (0.28 +/- 0.04 vs. 0.27 +/- 0.03 ml/kPa). In six cats without nervous blockade we obtained similar results. Calculation of peripheral resistance during transients from the mean pressure-to-mean flow ratio, i.e., without correction for arterial compliance, suggested changes in resistance values of less than or equal to 57%, which shows that correction is necessary. The findings indicate that peripheral resistance and total arterial compliance can be estimated in vivo on a beat-to-beat basis, even during hemodynamic transients.


1963 ◽  
Vol 204 (1) ◽  
pp. 71-72 ◽  
Author(s):  
Edward D. Freis ◽  
Jay N. Cohn ◽  
Thomas E. Liptak ◽  
Aristide G. B. Kovach

The mechanism of the diastolic pressure elevation occurring during left stellate ganglion stimulation was investigated. The cardiac output rose considerably, the heart rate remained essentially unchanged, and the total peripheral resistance fell moderately. The diastolic rise appeared to be due to increased blood flow rather than to any active changes in resistance vessels.


2003 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 53-63 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Kozarski ◽  
G. Ferrari ◽  
F. Clemente ◽  
K. Górczyńska ◽  
C. De Lazzari ◽  
...  

Mock circulatory systems are used to test mechanical assist devices and for training and research purposes; when compared to numerical models, however, they are not flexible enough and rather expensive. The concept of merging numerical and physical models, resulting in a hybrid one, is applied here to represent the input impedance of the systemic arterial tree, by a conventional windkessel model built out of an electro-hydraulic (E-H) impedance simulator added to a hydraulic section. This model is inserted into an open loop circuit, completed by another hybrid model representing the ventricular function. The E-H impedance simulator is essentially an electrically controlled flow source (a gear pump). Referring to the windkessel model, it is used to simulate the peripheral resistance and the hydraulic compliance, creating the desired input impedance. The data reported describe the characterisation of the E-H impedance simulator and demonstrate its behaviour when it is connected to a hybrid ventricular model. Experiments were performed under different hemodynamic conditions, including the presence of a left ventricular assist device (LVAD).


1986 ◽  
Vol 251 (3) ◽  
pp. H588-H600 ◽  
Author(s):  
Z. Liu ◽  
K. P. Brin ◽  
F. C. Yin

Determination of arterial compliance in vivo has long interested physiologists. Most current methods for estimating this parameter assume that compliance is constant, i.e., that arterial pressure-volume (P-V) relations are linear, and they also assume that diastolic aortic pressure decay is an exponential function of time. Both of these assumptions, however, are questionable. This study proposes improved methods of estimating compliance based on a Windkessel model of the arterial system but which utilize the area under the pressure tracing rather than the waveform itself. Formulations accounting for both linear and three hypothetical nonlinear arterial P-V relations (exponential, logarithmic, and parabolic) are presented. Data from patients with congestive heart failure and hypertension are used for illustration. Compliances assuming linear P-V relations are reasonably close to those assuming nonlinear P-V relations only at mean aortic pressure. At end-diastolic pressure the linear assumption underestimates and at peak systolic it overestimates the compliances obtained assuming nonlinear P-V relations. The simpler linear assumption still allows a first approximation to compliance, but we show that existing methods for obtaining compliance under this assumption have severe theoretical as well as practical shortcomings. Our proposed method avoids these shortcomings primarily because deviations from an exact exponential form of the pressure wave have less influence on these compliance estimates than currently used methods.


1998 ◽  
Vol 274 (4) ◽  
pp. H1393-H1403 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher M. Quick ◽  
David S. Berger ◽  
Abraham Noordergraaf

Recently, there has been renewed interest in estimating total arterial compliance. Because it cannot be measured directly, a lumped model is usually applied to derive compliance from aortic pressure and flow. The archetypical model, the classical two-element windkessel, assumes 1) system linearity and 2) infinite pulse wave velocity. To generalize this model, investigators have added more elements and have incorporated nonlinearities. A different approach is taken here. It is assumed that the arterial system 1) is linear and 2) has finite pulse wave velocity. In doing so, the windkessel is generalized by describing compliance as a complex function of frequency that relates input pressure to volume stored. By applying transmission theory, this relationship is shown to be a function of heart rate, peripheral resistance, and pulse wave reflection. Because this pressure-volume relationship is generally not equal to total arterial compliance, it is termed “apparent compliance.” This new concept forms the natural counterpart to the established concept of apparent pulse wave velocity.


1982 ◽  
Vol 63 (s8) ◽  
pp. 87s-88s ◽  
Author(s):  
A. CH. Simon ◽  
J. A. Levenson ◽  
S. P. Laurent ◽  
M. E. Safar

1. Simultaneous brachial artery pressure and blood flow measurements were made in 21 men, including six normal subjects and 15 patients with essential hypertension of the same age and diastolic pressure at the time of investigation. 2. Blood flow was evaluated by means of a pulsed Doppler device with a double transducer probe, enabling a precise evaluation of the calibre of the brachial artery. From analysis of the pressure-flow curves during diastole, forearm arterial compliance was estimated by using an original first-order model of the forearm arterial system. 3. Forearm arterial compliance was significantly decreased in hypertensive subjects. 4. Since patients and hypertensive subjects had similar blood pressures, the results indicate that the reduced forearm compliance was independent of blood pressure per se but may reflect in hypertensive subjects adaptive changes in the walls of peripheral large arteries.


1987 ◽  
Vol 252 (3) ◽  
pp. H585-H593 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. J. Grant ◽  
L. J. Paradowski

The purpose of this study is to evaluate systematically the ability of lumped parameter models to approximate pulmonary arterial input impedance (Zin) and estimate characteristic impedance (Zc) and pulmonary arterial compliance (Cart). To assess goodness of fit, the parameters of each model were adjusted so that the model's impedance approximates the Zin measured in anesthetized cats. To assess the ability of the model to estimate Zc and Cart, the lumped parameter models were fitted to Zin calculated from a distributed parameter model of the feline pulmonary vasculature. In addition, we assessed the concordance between the lumped parameter model estimates of Zc and Cart. The results indicate that no one model was superior; any of four models would be a reasonable choice. A four-element model was used to compare Zin measured at different phases of the respiratory cycle. Small differences in the impedance spectra were found that have not been previously reported. We conclude that lumped parameter models can be used to provide close approximations to Zin, to estimate Zc and Cart, and to provide a useful approach for statistical comparisons of impedance spectra.


Author(s):  
Daime Campos-Arias ◽  
Marc L. De Buyzere ◽  
Julio A. Chirinos ◽  
Ernst R. Rietzschel ◽  
Patrick Segers

The changes experienced by the arterial system due to the aging process have been extensively studied but are incompletely understood. Within-subject patterns of changes in regards to input impedance and wave reflection parameters have not been assessed. The Asklepios study is a longitudinal population study including healthy (at onset) middle-aged subjects, with 974 males and 1052 females undergoing 2 rounds of measurements of applanation tonometry and ultrasound, 10.15±1.40 years apart. Carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity, aortic input impedance, and wave reflection parameters were assessed, and linear mixed-effects models were used to evaluate their longitudinal trajectories and determinants. Overall, the effective 10-year increase in pulse wave velocity was less than expected from first round cross-sectional data, and pulse wave velocity was found to accelerate more in women than in men. Interestingly, the increase in pulse wave velocity was not paralleled by a decrease in arterial volume compliance, particularly in younger males. Aortic root characteristic impedance decreased with age in younger subjects while it increased for the older subjects in the study. These changes suggest that aortic dilation and elongation may play an important role determining the longitudinal age-related changes in impedance parameters in middle-age. Wave reflection decreased with aging, whereas resistance increased in women and decreased in men. We conclude that the effective impact of aging on arterial system properties, in a middle-aged population, is not well reflected by cross-sectional studies. Future studies should assess the interaction between geometric remodeling and wall stiffening as determinants of pulsatile hemodynamics.


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