Details

Blood Is Thicker Than Water and Flows Differently

An international team from the field of physics, engineering sciences and medicine intends to investigate instabilities in blood flow. The Center of Applied Space Technology and Microgravity (ZARM) from the University of Bremen is taking part.

The way blood flows through blood vessels plays and important role in the development of cardiovascular diseases such as thrombosis and arteriosclerosis. However, the physical foundations of blood flow are nearly entirely unknown. Blood is more heterogeneous then water and is driven by a pump; the heart. It beats. Previous experiments on flow behavior have generally been based on water that moves uniformly. This knowledge gap is now to be closed.

Better Understanding Causes of Disease

The newly founded research group is dealing with diseases that affect many people and often end fatally. Exact knowledge of blood flow behavior could help to better understand the causes of said diseases and also avoid them or provide more effective therapies.

Project Perspective and Participants

The research group FOR2688 “Instabilities, bifurcations and migration in pulsating flows” will be funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG) for three years from August 2019 with around 2.4 million euros. Of this total, the University of Bremen will received 700,000 euros. Other partners in the network are Saarland University, University of Bayreuth and the Helmholtz Institute Erlangen-Nürnberg, the IST in Klosterneuburg near Vienna and the Swiss Federal Research Institute WSL in Zurich.

Further information:

https://www.zarm.uni-bremen.de/en/press/single-view/article/blood-is-thicker-than-water-and-it-flows-differently.html

Contact:

Dr. Kerstin Avila
Tel.: 0421 218-57859
Center of Applied Space Technology and Microgravity
University of Bremen
Phone: +49 421 218-57827
Email: kerstin.avila@zarm.uni-bremen.de
 
Contact for media inquiries:

Birgit Kinkeldey
Phone: +49 421 218-57755
Email: birgit.kinkeldey@zarm.uni-bremen.de

 

technical photo
A pipe experiment