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Instability and `Sausage-String' Appearance in Blood Vessels during High Blood Pressure

Preben Alstrom, Victor M. Eguiluz, Morten Colding-Jorgensen, Finn Gustafsson, Niels-Henrik Holstein-Rathlou

physics.bio-pharXiv:physics/9810002

Abstract

A new Rayleigh-type instability is proposed to explain the `sausage-string' pattern of alternating constrictions and dilatations formed in blood vessels under influence of a vasoconstricting agent. Our theory involves the nonlinear elasticity characteristics of the vessel wall, and provides predictions for the conditions under which the cylindrical form of a blood vessel becomes unstable.

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