The Physics of Coronary Blood Flow

Coronary blood flow is blood flow to the heart for its own metabolic needs. In the most common form of heart disease there is a disruption in this flow because of obstructive disease in the vessels that carry the flow. The subject of coronary blood flow is therefore associated mostly with the pathophysiology of this disease, rarely with dynamics or physics. Yet, the system responsible for coronary blood flow, namely the "coronary circulation," is a highly sophisticated dynamical system in which the dynamics and physics of the flow are as important as the integrity of the conducting vessels.This book is devoted specifically to the dynamics and physics of coronary blood flow. While it upholds the clinical and pathophysiological issues involved, the book focuses on dynamics and physics, approaching the subject from a strictly biomedical engineering viewpoint. The rationale for this approach is simply that the coronary circulation involves many issues in dynamics and physics, as the book will demonstrate.