Measuring Coronary Artery Capillary Resistance with Variable Inflow Conditions

A better understanding of the effects of variable inflow velocities on coronary capillary resistance is essential to creating a predictive model for personalized coronary flow. This paper proposes an experimental setup and presents measurement results for coronary artery capillary resistance with variable inflow conditions. A peristaltic pump with a programmable controller is used to pump fluid into distal coronary artery branches of cadaveric porcine hearts. The resulting pressures are recorded using transduced continuous pressure monitoring. The paper analyses the transient resistive pressure in coronary arteries and shows the capillary resistive pressures as a function of variable inflow conditions.