Abstract #3412

Normal Distribution on Blood Flow Helicity in the Healthy Aorta

Ramona Lorenz¹, Jelena Bock¹, Jan Gerrit Korvink^2,3, Michael Markl¹

¹Dept. of Radiology, Medical Physics, University Medical Center Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany; ²Dept. of Microsystems Engineering - IMTEK, University of Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany; ³Freiburg Institute of Advanced Studies (FRIAS), University Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany

3D blood flow characteristics in the aorta play an important part in the health of individuals. However, in vivo blood flow patterns are complex and dependent on the individual geometry and shape of the aorta. This study provides a fully quantitative analysis and detailed evaluation of the spatial and temporal distribution of mean and peak mean helicity for 12 healthy subjects and in up to 24 analysis planes equally distributed along the aorta. All 12 healthy subjects showed consistent directions of rotation over the entire aorta with high systolic clockwise helicity and a good inter-individual agreement in the aortic arch.