New FEM 3D model for arm-cuff interface simulation

Abstract

The aim of the work is focused on the generation of a FEM 3D model, by using Ansys code, able to arm-cuff interface simulation during deflation. For this purpose it was measured the circumferential distribution of the pressure produced by the cuff on the arm during the inflation and the deflation. The parameters of the arm have been identified by searching vessel-occluded conditions at the systolic blood pressure of the subject for the bladder/arm ratio equal to 80%. The model was validated preliminarily checking its ability to correctly simulate the phenomenon of miscuffing by comparison with the data derived from the consolidated bibliography of the sector. The code has been then applied using as external load an experimental circumferential distribution of the pressure. The model has allowed to simulate the shape of the lumen of the arterial vessel during the deflation, properly highlighting the moments in which the pressure of deflation equals the systolic and diastolic pressures of the patient.