Atherosclerosis, the leading cause of death in the developed world and nearly the leading
cause in the developing world, is associated with systemic risk factors including
hypertension, smoking, hyperlipidemia, and diabetes mellitus, among others. Nonetheless,
atherosclerosis remains a geometrically focal disease, preferentially affecting the outer
edges of vessel bifurcations. In these predisposed areas, hemodynamic shear stress, the
frictional force acting on the endothelial cell surface as a result of blood flow, is weaker than …