A New Form of Residual Deformation in the Coronary Artery: Implications for In Vivo Mechanical Behavior

Vascular residual stress has been the subject of numerous studies for more than two decades. The importance of residual stress on vascular mechanics was first recognized by Chuong and Fung [1]. They demonstrated that when circumferential residual stress was considered in the mechanical analysis, a nearly uniform stress distribution was predicted across the vessel wall. This suggested that vascular cells, despite being at different radial locations, experience the same stress environment. Residual stress is also known to exist longitudinally, and recent studies have shown that this highly effects the stress environment as well [2]. This study presents a new form of vascular residual stress, one that occurs in shear, within the porcine coronary artery. The effects of residual shear stress on the transmural stress profile are examined. We hope the results can lead to a better understanding of the residual stress field, and therefore help develop more robust and predictive models for vascular diseases.