Effect of flow partition on wall shear in a cast of a human coronary artery

The effect of flow partition on wall shear was determined in a cast of a human coronary artery. A laser Doppler anemometer was used to measure the time varying velocities at selected sites close to the walls of the cast. Shear rates were derived by dividing the measured velocities at each site by the perpendicular distance from measurement site to the wall. At the bifurcation of the left main coronary artery into its anterior descending and circumflex branches the shear at sites near the outer walls of the two branches was more strongly affected by the flow partition than at sites on the flow divider and near the walls of the left main coronary artery.