First- and third-order models for determining arterial compliance

Background: Engineering models of the arterial vasculature have been used to describe vascular properties of resistance and compliance. These approaches have used either Fourier frequency analysis, based on transmission line equations, or time domain analysis of the circuit equations describing modified Windkessel models of the vasculature. Design: A third-order, four-element modified Windkessel model can reproduce arterial pressure waveforms, including both exponential and oscillatory pressure decays observed during the diastolic portion of the cardiac cycle. Method: A method to determine both capacitive and oscillatory compliance of the arterial vasculature was developed, and the effect of these compliance properties on the blood pressure waveform was examined.