17-2
Chapter One
Introduction to basic hemodynamic
principles
James E. Faber, George A. Stouffer
Hemodynamics is concerned with the mechanical and physiologic properties
controlling blood pressure and flow through the body. A full discussion of
hemodynamic principles is beyond the scope of this book. In this chapter,
we present an overview of basic principles that are helpful in understanding
hemodynamics.
1. Energy in the blood stream exists in three
interchangeable forms: pressure arising from cardiac
output and vascular resistance, hydrostatic pressure
from gravitational forces, and kinetic energy of blood flow
Daniel Bernoulli was a physician and mathematician who lived in the eighteenth
century. He had wide-ranging scientific interests and won the Grand
Prize of the Paris Academy 10 times for advances in areas ranging from astronomy
to physics. One of his insights was that the energy of an ideal fluid (a
hypothetical concept referring to a fluid that is not subject to viscous or frictional
energy losses) in a straight tube can exist in three interchangeable forms:
perpendicul ... read full excerpt from Cardiovascular Hemodynamics for the Clinician ebook
