Computational modeling of hypertensive growth in the human carotid artery
Author (s): Saez, P; Peña, E.; Martinez, M.A.; Kuhl, E.Journal: Computational Mechanics
Volume: 53, Issue 6
Pages: 1183 - 1196
Date: 2013
Abstract:
Arterial hypertension is a chronic medical condition associated with an elevated blood pressure. Chronic arterial hypertension initiates a series of events, which are known to collectively initiate arterial wall thickening. However, the correlation between macrostructural mechanical loading, microstructural cellular changes, and macrostructural adaptation remains unclear. Here, we present a microstructurally motivated computational model for chronic arterial hypertension through smooth muscle cell growth. To model growth, we adopt a classical concept based on the multiplicative decomposition of the deformation gradient into an elastic part and a growth part. Motivated by clinical observations, we assume that the driving force for growth is the stretch sensed by the smooth muscle cells. We embed our model into a finite element framework, where growth is stored locally as an internal variable. First, to demonstrate the features of our model, we investigate the effects of hypertensive growth in a real human carotid artery. Our results agree nicely with experimental data reported in the literature both qualitatively and quantitatively.
Bibtex:
@Article{Sáez2014, author="S{\'a}ez, Pablo and Pe{\~{n}}a, Estefania and Mart{\'i}nez, Miguel Angel and Kuhl, Ellen", title="Computational modeling of hypertensive growth in the human carotid artery", journal="Computational Mechanics", year="2014", volume="53", number="6", pages="1183--1196", abstract="Arterial hypertension is a chronic medical condition associated with an elevated blood pressure. Chronic arterial hypertension initiates a series of events, which are known to collectively initiate arterial wall thickening. However, the correlation between macrostructural mechanical loading, microstructural cellular changes, and macrostructural adaptation remains unclear. Here, we present a microstructurally motivated computational model for chronic arterial hypertension through smooth muscle cell growth. To model growth, we adopt a classical concept based on the multiplicative decomposition of the deformation gradient into an elastic part and a growth part. Motivated by clinical observations, we assume that the driving force for growth is the stretch sensed by the smooth muscle cells. We embed our model into a finite element framework, where growth is stored locally as an internal variable. First, to demonstrate the features of our model, we investigate the effects of hypertensive growth in a real human carotid artery. Our results agree nicely with experimental data reported in the literature both qualitatively and quantitatively.", issn="1432-0924", doi="10.1007/s00466-013-0959-z", url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00466-013-0959-z" }