Constitutive modeling of coronary arterial media--comparison of three model classes.

Accurate modeling of arterial elasticity is imperative for predicting pulsatile blood flow and transport to the periphery, and for evaluating the mechanical microenvironment of the vessel wall. The goal of the present study is to compare a recently developed structural model of porcine left anterior descending artery media to two commonly used typical representatives of phenomenological and structure-motivated invariant-based models, in terms of the number of model parameters, model descriptive and predictive powers, and requisite different test protocols for reliable parameter estimation. The three models were compared against 3D data of radial inflation, axial extension, and twist tests. Also checked are the models predictive capabilities to response data not used for estimation, including both tests outside the range of estimation database, as well as protocols of a different nature. The results show that the descriptive estimation error (model fit to estimation database), measured by the sum of squared residuals (SSE) between full 3D data and model predictions, was about twice as low for the structural (4.58%) model compared to the other two (9.71 and 8.99% for the phenomenological and structure-motivated models, respectively). Similar SSE ratios were obtained for the predictive capabilities. Prediction SSE at high stretch based on estimation of two low stretches yielded an SSE value of 2.81% for the structural model, and 10.54% and 7.87% for the phenomenological and structure-motivated models, respectively. For the prediction of twist from inflation-extension data, SSE values for the torsional stiffness was 1.76% for the structural model and 39.62 and 2.77% for the phenomenological and structure-motivated models. The required number of model parameters for the structural model is four, whereas the phenomenological model requires six to nine and the structure-motivated has four parameters. These results suggest that modeling based on the tissue structural features improves model reliability in describing given data and in predicting the tissue general response.

Experimentally validated microstructural 3D constitutive model of coronary arterial media.

Accurate modeling of arterial response to physiological or pathological loads may shed light on the processes leading to initiation and progression of a number of vascular diseases and may serve as a tool for prediction and diagnosis. In this study, a microstructure based hyperelastic constitutive model is developed for passive media of porcine coronary arteries. The most general model contains 12 independent parameters representing the three-dimensional inner fibrous structure of the media and includes the effects of residual stresses and osmotic swelling. Parameter estimation and model validation were based on mechanical data of porcine left anterior descending (LAD) media under radial inflation, axial extension, and twist tests. The results show that a reduced four parameter model is sufficient to reliably predict the passive mechanical properties. These parameters represent the stiffness and the helical orientation of each lamellae fiber and the stiffness of the interlamellar struts interconnecting these lamellae. Other structural features, such as orientational distribution of helical fibers and anisotropy of the interlamellar network, as well as possible transmural distribution of structural features, were found to have little effect on the global media mechanical response. It is shown that the model provides good predictions of the LAD media twist response based on parameters estimated from only biaxial tests of inflation and extension. In addition, good predictive capabilities are demonstrated for the model behavior at high axial stretch ratio based on data of law stretches.