Instability and `Sausage-String' Appearance in Blood Vessels during High Blood Pressure
arXiv:physics/9810002 · doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.82.1995
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.
4 pages, 4 figures submitted to Physical Review Letters