GENERAL PRINCIPLES OF CIRCULATION

Arteries are strong, elastic

vessels adapted for carrying
blood away from the heart
under high pressure.

Three distinct layers:

Endothelium – Inner most
layer. Rich in elastic and
collagenous fibers. Called the
tunica interna.

Middle layer – Tunica media.

Smooth muscle fibers, thick
layer of elastic connective
tissue.

Outer layer – Tunica externa.

Attaches the artery to tissues.
Contains vasa vasorum that gives
Rise to capillaries
BLOOD FLOW, VELOCITY,
AND PRESSURE
POISEUILLE-HAGEN EQATION
BLOOD FLOW

Hagen-Poisseuille LawTM
 Poiseuille's Law
The biggest surprise in the application of Poiseuille's law to fluid flow is the dramatic effect of changing the radius.
A decrease in radius has an equally dramatic effect, as shown in blood flow examples.
 Blood Flow Examples
Suppose you have an emergency requirement for a five-fold increase in blood volume flowrate
(like being chased by a big dog)? How does your body supply it?
According to Poiseuille's law, a five-fold increase in blood pressure would be required if
the increase were supplied by blood pressure alone!
But the body has a much more potent method for increasing volume flowrate in the
vasodilation of the small vessels called arterioles.
Since the smaller vessels provide most of the resistance to flow, the arterioles in their
position just prior to the capillaries can provide a major controlling influence on the
volume flowrate. This system of small vessels can constrict flow to one part of the body
while enhancing the flow to another to meet changing demands for oxygen and nutrient
Blood Flow Examples
LAMINAR
FLOW
TURBULENT
FLOW
BLOOD FLOW PATTERNS

 But how do we know

which way a fluid will flow?

 We use an Engineering Trick:

 Dimensionless Numbers
REYNOLD’S NUMBER

 Invented by an Engineer:
 Predicts Laminar flow versus Turbulent flow

 Low Number means Laminar Flow

 High Number means Turbulent Flow

REYNOLD’S NUMBER

 Reynold’s Number is:

 The ratio of Inertial forces to Viscous forces

 Reynold’s Number = vpL/u

REYNOLD’S NUMBER

 Reynold’s Number = vpL/u

p is the weight-density of the fluid

 u is the dynamic viscosity of the fluid

 v is the velocity of the fluid flow

 L the Characteristic Length

INTRINSIC REGULATION OF BLOOD FLOW
(AUTOREGULATION)

 Maintains fairly constant blood flow despite BP

variation
 Myogenic control mechanisms occur in some
tissues because vascular smooth muscle
contracts when stretched & relaxes when not
stretched
 E.g.
decreased arterial pressure causes cerebral
vessels to dilate & vice versa

14-39
INTRINSIC REGULATION OF BLOOD FLOW
(AUTOREGULATION) CONTINUED

 Metabolic control mechanism matches

blood flow to local tissue needs
 Low O2 or pH or high CO2, adenosine, or
K+ from high metabolism cause
vasodilation which increases blood flow (=
active hyperemia)

14-40
Wall Tension
Pascal's principle requires that the pressure is everywhere the same inside the balloon at equilibrium. But examination
immediately reveals that there are great differences in wall tension on different parts of the balloon. The variation is
described by Laplace's Law.
LaPlace's Law
The larger the vessel radius, the larger the wall tension required to withstand a given
internal fluid pressure.

For a given vessel radius and internal pressure, a spherical vessel will have half the
wall tension of a cylindrical vessel.
Why does the wall tension increase with radius?
Why does wall tension increase with radius?

If the upward part of the fluid pressure remains the same,

then the downward component of the wall tension must
remain the same. But if the curvature is less, then the total
tension must be greater in order to get that same downward
component of tension.
Tension in Arterial Walls
The tension in the walls of arteries and veins in the human body is a classic
example of LaPlace's law. This geometrical law applied to a tube or pipe
says that for a given internal fluid pressure, the wall tension will be
proportional to the radius of the vessel.

The implication of this law for the large arteries, which have comparable
blood pressures, is that the larger arteries must have stronger walls since an
artery of twice the radius must be able to withstand twice the wall tension.
Arteries are reinforced by fibrous bands to strengthen them against the risks
of an aneurysm. The tiny capillaries rely on their small size.
Capillary Walls
The walls of the capillaries of the human circulatory system
are so thin as to appear transparent under a microscope,
yet they withstand a pressure up to about half of the full
blood pressure. LaPlace's law gives insight into how they
are able to withstand such pressures: their small size
implies that the wall tension for a given internal pressure is
much smaller than that of the larger arteries.
Given a peak blood pressure of about 120 mmHg at the
left ventricle, the pressure at the beginning of the capillary
system may be on the order of 50 mmHg. The large radii
of the large arteries imply that for pressures in that range
they must have strong walls to withstand the large
resulting wall tension. The larger arteries provide much
less resistance to flow than the smaller vessels according
to Poiseuille's law, and thus the drop in pressure across
them is only about half the total drop. The capillaries offer
large resistances to flow,but don’t required much strength