Heart Essay
Heart Essay
Heart Essay
figure 1.0
Basic Principles of Fluid Mechanics
Conservation of Mass
We know that in our body mass is conserved but can change into various
forms. For example, some of the plasma content of blood can be
transformed into interstitial fluid but the mass remains constant in the
end. Since blood is nearly incompressible (i.e. its density is constant),
the conservation of mass can be expressed simply
dV
=Qin−Qout
dt
where V is the volume of the control volume (m3), Qin and Qout are
the volume flow rates (m3/s) in and out of the volume. A useful example
of control volume can be volume defined by left ventricle. Most of the
volume can be defined by the endocardium ventricle when the valves
are closed but once they are open, we need to choose a surface like plane
at a root of valve leaflets.
More importantly, the conservation equation is satisfied with average
flows. Thus, we can say, for example, that the average flow in the
pulmonary arteries must equal the average flow in the systemic arteries
because, on average, the volume of blood in either ventricle is constant.
Equation’s Drawback
The equation only remains valid when the density of blood is constant.
This example exposes another common mechanical mis-usage in
cardiology. The difference in pressure between two points in the
cardiovascular system is commonly referred by cardiologists as the
'gradient'. Properly, the gradient is the difference per unit distance and
therefore involves the distance between the measurement sites. This
incorrect usage of 'gradient' may be too well established for us to suggest
that it be replaced by the more proper 'difference'.