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Computational modeling of hypertensive growth in the human carotid artery

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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.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Group of Applied Mechanics and Bioengineering, Aragón Institute of Engineering Research, University of Zaragoza, Zaragoza, Spain

    Pablo Sáez, Estefania Peña & Miguel Angel Martínez

  2. Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red en Bioingeniería, Biomateriales y Nanomedicina (CIBER-BBN), Zaragoza, Spain

    Pablo Sáez, Estefania Peña & Miguel Angel Martínez

  3. Departments of Mechanical Engineering, Bioengineering, and Cardiothoracic Surgery, Stanford University, Stanford, CA , 94305, USA

    Ellen Kuhl

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  1. Pablo Sáez
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  2. Estefania Peña
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  4. Ellen Kuhl
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Correspondence to Ellen Kuhl.

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Sáez, P., Peña, E., Martínez, M.A. et al. Computational modeling of hypertensive growth in the human carotid artery. Comput Mech 53, 1183–1196 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00466-013-0959-z

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