Fluid structure interaction with contact surface methodology for evaluation of endovascular carotid implants for drug-resistant hypertension treatment.

Drug-resistant hypertensive patients may be treated by mechanical stimulation of stretch-sensitive baroreceptors located in the sinus of carotid arteries. To evaluate the efficacy of endovascular devices to stretch the carotid sinus such that the induced strain might trigger baroreceptors to increase action potential firing rate and thereby reduce systemic blood pressure, numerical simulations were conducted of devices deployed in subject-specific carotid models. Two models were chosen--a typical physiologic carotid and a diminutive atypical physiologic model representing a clinically worst case scenario--to evaluate the effects of device deployment in normal and extreme cases, respectively.

Single beam mapping of nonlinear phase shift profiles in planar waveguides with an embedded mirror.

We demonstrate a technique for a single shot mapping of nonlinear phase shift profiles in spatial solitons that are formed during short pulse propagation through one-dimensional slab AlGaAs waveguides, in the presence of a focusing Kerr nonlinearity. The technique uses a single beam and relies on the introduction of a lithographically etched reflective planar mirror surface positioned in proximity to the beam's input position. Using this setup we demonstrate nonlinearity-induced sharp lateral phase variations for certain initial conditions, and creation of higher spatial harmonics when the beam is in close proximity to the mirror.