Maternal, placental blood flow: A model with velocity-dependent permeability

As a first step towards mathematical modeling of the maternal blood flow in a human placental circulatory unit, the “villous tree” containing the fetal capillaries is represented as a continuous, deformable porous solid whose local permeability increases with increasing local flow speed. The use of this direct ad hoc dependence allows simple treatment of the large distortions which are observed. Results on quasi-steady flows with “Darcy Law” pressure drops are reported here.