Atherosclerosis tends to occur at specific sites, including the bifurcation of arteries. An arterial bifurcation has a sharp edge, and therefore a minute deformation or movement can have a strong effect on the blood flow. In order to study the blood flow at bifurcations using a realistic CFD model, the geometry of a three-dimensional blood vessel configuration was reconstructed by cutting the vessel into slices of order of 1 micrometer. A precise CFD model and an experimental flow model were successfully constructed from the obtained data set, using a computer graphics technique and a rapid prototyping method.

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The paper reports in production of underwater micro shock waves by direct irradiation of pulse laser beam. Energy source was a Q-switched Ho : YAG laser with 90 mJ/Pulse energy measured at the end of a 0.60mm diameter glass optical fiber. The generation and propagation of underwater shock waves from the optical fiber were quantitatively visualized by double exposure holographic interferometry. Sequential flow visualization revealed that plasma generated by the laser beam, drove spherical shock waves in water. Heat induced flow in front of the fiber vanished after 100 ms. The weak shock waves produced by this method have potential to be applied for precise medical procedures such as revascularization in neurosurgery.

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