Fluid Physics and Cardiovascular Health

​Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in the Unites States.  A comprehensive understanding of fluid physics is crucial for health care professionals to diagnose and treat the symptoms and causes of cardiovascular disease.  The heart produces blood pressure, which moves blood with its vital oxygen and nutrients through the body.  The human body is a vast network of pipes with changing length and radius.  Physics principles dictate the generation of pressure in the heart and describe the flow of blood throughout the body, from the arteries, to the capillaries, through veins and back to the heart.  Homework and lab activities focus on the follow topics:

In the YouTube video series above, two health professionals share their expertise in the physics of the cardiovascular system.  Kristin Nathan, a registered nurse in a cardiovascular intensive care unit, describes the many ways that a patient can be monitored and diagnosed when they experience heart problems or heart failure.  She demonstrates some of the treatments possible at the hospital bedside.  Dr. Jonathan Lindner, a cardiologist and researcher, delves deeply into two critical physics principles: the Bernoulli principle and Poiseuille’s law.  He discusses these in the context of diagnosis and therapy of cardiovascular conditions, focusing on stenosis of coronary arteries and hardening of heart valves.