Figure 4

Physiological distensibility range. Relationship between increasing wall thickness and decreasing distensibility (D) for the compliant aortic models (black circles). The values of D implemented by the rapid prototyped models are within a physiological range, as shown by the comparison with a clinical range of D values (grey diamonds) for different arteries, including ascending and descending aorta [16, 17], pulmonary artery [18] and carotid artery [19].