Model investigation of the changes in mechanical properties of a blood vessel with a blood flow obstruction

We have made latex tube models of blood vessels, either with or without simulated atherosclerotic disease, in order to study changes in their mechanical properties. We have measured volume and pressure for the models of normal and obstructed vessels, then plotted and compared their compliance curves. We found that the compliance of the model of a diseased vessel did differ from that of the model of a normal vessel. The maximum compliance of the modeled diseased vessel shifted to a lower pressure relative to that of the modeled clear vessel. This finding implies that detection of compliance differences might be used as a method to diagnose atherosclerotic disease noninvasively.