Instability and "Sausage-String" Appearance in Blood Vessels during High Blood Pressure

Preben Alstrøm,1 Victor M. Eguíluz,2 Morten Colding-Jørgensen,3 Finn Gustafsson,4 and Niels-Henrik Holstein-Rathlou4
1CATS, The Niels Bohr Institute, DK-2100 Copenhagen, Denmark
2Instituto Mediterráneo de Estudios Avanzados IMEDEA (CSIC-UIB), E-07071 Palma de Mallorca, Spain
3Novo Nordisk, DK-2880 Bagsvaerd, Denmark
4Department of Medical Physiology, The Panum Institute, DK-2200 Copenhagen, Denmark
(Received 1 October 1998)

A new Rayleigh-type instability is proposed to explain the "sausage-string" pattern of alternating constrictions and dilatations formed in blood vessels under influence of a vasoconstricting agent. Our theory involves the nonlinear elasticity characteristics of the vessel wall, and provides predictions for the conditions under which the cylindrical form of a blood vessel becomes unstable. ©1999 The American Physical Society

PACS: 87.19.Rr, 02.30.Jr, 47.20.Dr

P. Alstrom et al. Phys. Rev. Lett. 82, 1995-1999 (1999)

To articles:

  • Instability and `Sausage-String' Appearance in Blood Vessels during High Blood Pressure
    • , published in Phys. Rev. Lett. 82, 1995 (1999); [also in physics/9810002].
  • `Sausage-String' Patterns in Blood Vessels at High Blood Pressure
    • , longer version.

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  • PhysicsWeb (October 16, 1998)
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