Biological Stability and Adaptivity of Arteries Subject to Stress-Mediated Growth and Remodeling
Christian Cyron (Yale University), Jay Humphrey (Yale University)
Mechanics of cell sheets, multicellular assemblies and tissues
Mon 10:45 - 12:15
Barus-Holley 141
Mechanical Equilibrium and stability are important considerations in vascular mechanics and related analysis has provided important insight into both the physiology and pathophysiology. In addition to understanding biomechanics on short time scales, however, there is a similar need to understand tissue behavior on longer time scales, particularly regarding growth and remodeling processes. A natural question therefore is whether, or how, the concepts of equilibrium and stability can be generalized to capture the biomechanics of blood vessels on longer time scales. In this talk we will present such a generalization based on Lyapunov's theory of stability. Moreover, we will introduce the notion of adaptivity as a third corner stone of vessel mechanics characterizing their affinity to remodel under perturbations. A direct application of our theoretical considerations will be illustrated via computational simulations of aneuryms, that is, local dilatations of arteries. Previous computational studies of their rupture risk have focused mainly on wall stress, that is, on their current state rather than on future growth and remodeling potential. As a change of paradigm, we suggest to consider in future work also the stability margin of arteries as an additional predictor for the rupture risk of aneurysms.