FIG. 5.
Shear stress distributions in mouse aortas. A: a representative image of mouse aortas illustrated by micro-CT scan. For reference, the diameter of the descending aorta is ~1 mm. B: distributions of mean shear stress in the aortas. Velocities in the aortas are measured by Doppler ultrasound. Mean values of wall shear stress are computed by averaging wall shear stress magnitudes over the cardiac cycle. Colors are used for scaling the values in dyn/cm2, and data are shown for two different mice. The mean wall shear stress in the mouse is much higher than that in the human (553), although the inner curvature of the arch and the entrance to the orifice of the innominate artery are areas of lower shear stresses. On the other hand, lateral surfaces of the ascending aorta and the region of the arch around the branch of left common carotid artery experience higher shear stress values. [From Suo et al. (552).]