Model analysis of coronary hemodynamics incorporating autoregulation

This paper models the autoregulation function for the coronary circulation and analyzes the pulsatile coronary hemodynamics. The autoregulation function acts to maintain a constant average blood flow in the arterioles, as determined by the oxygen consumption in the heart muscle, even if the average coronary arterial pressure changes. The regulation is realized by partially controlling the vessel characteristics which correspond to the vessel tonus. In this study, the function is incorporated into the existing three-layered coronary hemodynamics model. Then, the arteriole hemodynamics is analyzed by simulation for the case of the normal coronary arterial pressure waveform and for the case of systolic hypertension.