The orientation of an intramyocardial vessel affects its mechanical loading by the surrounding myocardium

The coronary flow is significantly affected by the contracting myocardium. Although it is generally accepted that the interaction between the myocardium and the intramyocardial blood vessel is mechanical, the specific nature of this interaction is not well understood. Previous models of the coronary circulation have considered the intramyocardial tissue pressure (IMP) as the sole component of mechanical interaction between the tissue and the intramyocardial vessel wall. There are a number of other controlling factors (such as autoregulation, the intravascular blood pressure and the passive mechanical response of the vessel to its loading). The paper focuses solely on the effect of orientation on the global loading by the surrounding tissue.