title: Computational modeling of hypertensive growth in the human carotid artery.
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.
authors.affiliation: Group of Applied Mechanics and Bioengineering, Aragón Institute of Engineering Research, University of Zaragoza, Spain ; CIBER-BBN. Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red en Bioingeniería, Biomateriales y Nanomedicina, Spain.
authors.forename: Pablo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Sáez
authors.affiliation: Group of Applied Mechanics and Bioengineering, Aragón Institute of Engineering Research, University of Zaragoza, Spain ; CIBER-BBN. Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red en Bioingeniería, Biomateriales y Nanomedicina, Spain.
authors.forename: Estefania
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Peña
authors.affiliation: Group of Applied Mechanics and Bioengineering, Aragón Institute of Engineering Research, University of Zaragoza, Spain ; CIBER-BBN. Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red en Bioingeniería, Biomateriales y Nanomedicina, Spain.
authors.forename: Miguel Angel
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Martínez
authors.affiliation: Departments of Mechanical Engineering, Bioengineering, and Cardiothoracic Surgery, Stanford University, CA 94305, USA.
authors.forename: Ellen
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Kuhl
keywords: Biomechanics; finite element method; growth; hypertension; smooth muscle cells