| Abstract: | Often, failure in the arterial tree of the human circulatory system may warrant replacement of the malfunctioning part with a vein; either from the individual himself, or from a donor. In such cases, the vein segment replacing the arterial part may not be successful in mimicking the artery's properties, and thus will not be effective. A method for determining and categorizing the properties of arteries and veins is needed. This would increase the number of successful arterial substitutions. This research sought to develop a method by which a characteristic material property, known as the incremental viscoelastic modulus, could be determined. Equations for its determination were derived, which depend upon the changes in the vessels dimensions; longitudinal, circumferential, and wall thickness, when a sinusoidally varying pressure was applied to the vessel. Measurements of dimensional changes were made using ultrasound measuring techniques. Both pulse-echo and pitch-catch modes were used. This method allowed for much more accurate measurement than had been obtained in the past. Results obtained were aa expected, but no value for the incremental viscoelastic modulus was calculated. Suggestions for further use of this method were made. |
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