Modeling the Structural and Mechanical Properties of the Normal and Aneurysmatic Aortic Wall

• The structural properties of the Extracellular Matrix change in response to many factors, such as mechanical stress, age, disease and lifestyle. The ECM ensures not only the vessel wall’s structural integrity, but it also defines the micro-mechanical environment within which vascular cells are embedded and to which they respond. Its mechanical properties are governed by the delicate interaction of elastin, collagen, ProteoGlycans, fibronectin, fibrilin and other, constituents which are synthesized by vascular cells and degraded, mainly by Matrix MetalloProteinases. The present chapter discusses the structural organization of the vessel wall towards the multi-scale mechanical characterization of the aneurysmatic aorta. It is assumed that aneurysmatic vessel wall properties are mainly governed by collagen fibrils, with their undulation and orientation being the most influential micro-histological parameters. Purely passive constitutive descriptions are further complemented by collagen turnover kinetics, and all models are set-up such that they may be used for organ-level vascular biomechanics simulations.

Subject headings

MEDICIN OCH HÄLSOVETENSKAP  -- Medicinska och farmaceutiska grundvetenskaper -- Cell- och molekylärbiologi (hsv//swe)

MEDICAL AND HEALTH SCIENCES  -- Basic Medicine -- Cell and Molecular Biology (hsv//eng)

Publication and Content Type

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