A simple computational model of the right coronary artery on the beating heart--effects of the temporal change of curvature and torsion on the blood flow

A computational fluid dynamics study was conducted using a simplified model of the right coronary artery, which deforms with contraction of the heart. The right coronary artery was modeled using an ordinary helix, whose torsion and curvature changed in time with the contraction and dilatation of the heart which was modeled as a cylinder. In the computational result, the flow in the model right coronary artery was thought to be more affected by the change of the curvature compared to that of the torsion.