title: Characterization and assessment of hyperelastic and elastic properties of decellularized human adipose tissues.
abstract: Decellularized adipose tissue (DAT) has shown potential as a regenerative scaffold for plastic and reconstructive surgery to augment or replace damaged or missing adipose tissue (e.g. following lumpectomy or mastectomy). The mechanical properties of soft tissue substitutes are of paramount importance in restoring the natural shape and appearance of the affected tissues, and mechanical mismatching can lead to unpredictable scar tissue formation and poor implant integration. The goal of this work was to assess the linear elastic and hyperelastic properties of decellularized human adipose tissue and compare them to those of normal breast adipose tissue. To assess the influence of the adipose depot source on the mechanical properties of the resultant decellularized scaffolds, we performed indentation tests on DAT samples sourced from adipose tissue isolated from the breast, subcutaneous abdominal region, omentum, pericardial depot and thymic remnant, and their corresponding force-displacement data were acquired. Elastic and hyperelastic parameters were estimated using inverse finite element algorithms. Subsequently, a simulation was conducted in which the estimated hyperelastic parameters were tested in a real human breast model under gravity loading in order to assess the suitability of the scaffolds for implantation. Results of these tests showed that in the human breast, the DAT would show similar deformability to that of native normal tissue. Using the measured hyperelastic parameters, we were able to assess whether DAT derived from different depots exhibited different intrinsic nonlinearities. Results showed that DAT sourced from varying regions of the body exhibited little intrinsic nonlinearity, with no statistically significant differences between the groups.
authors.affiliation: Biomedical Engineering Program, University of Western Ontario, London, ON, Canada.
authors.forename: Ehsan
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Omidi
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Engineering, Queen׳s University, Kingston, ON, Canada.
authors.forename: Lydia
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Fuetterer
authors.affiliation: Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Western Ontario, London, ON, Canada.
authors.forename: Seyed
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Reza Mousavi
authors.affiliation: Biomedical Engineering Program, University of Western Ontario, London, ON, Canada.
authors.forename: Ryan C
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Armstrong
authors.affiliation: Biomedical Engineering Program, University of Western Ontario, London, ON, Canada; Department of Chemical Engineering, Queen׳s University, Kingston, ON, Canada; Department of Chemical and Biochemical Engineering, University of Western Ontario, London, ON, Canada; Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, University of Western Ontario, London, ON, Canada.
authors.forename: Lauren E
authors.initials: LE
authors.lastname: Flynn
authors.affiliation: Biomedical Engineering Program, University of Western Ontario, London, ON, Canada; Department of Medical Biophysics, University of Western Ontario, London, ON, Canada; Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Western Ontario, London, ON, Canada; Imaging Research Laboratories, Robarts Research Institute, London, Ontario, Canada. Electronic address: asamani@uwo.ca.
authors.forename: Abbas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Samani
mesh_terms: D000273:Adipose Tissue / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology*; D000465:Algorithms; D001940:Breast / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology*; D055119:Elastic Modulus; D004548:Elasticity / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D020342:Finite Element Analysis; D006801:Humans; D054457:Tissue Scaffolds; D016474:Weight-Bearing / Q000502:physiology
keywords: Adipose; Breast; Decellularized tissue; Elasticity; Hyperelasticity; Measurement; reconstruction