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The Biaxial Biomechanical Behavior of Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm Tissue

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Abstract

Rupture of the abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) occurs when the local wall stress exceeds the local wall strength. Knowledge of AAA wall mechanics plays a fundamental role in the development and advancement of AAA rupture risk assessment tools. Therefore, the aim of this study is to evaluate the biaxial mechanical properties of AAA tissue. Multiple biaxial test protocols were performed on AAA samples harvested from 28 patients undergoing open surgical repair. Both the Tangential Modulus (TM) and stretch ratio (λ) were recorded and compared in both the circumferential (ϴ) and longitudinal (L) directions at physiologically relevant stress levels, the influence of patient specific factors such as sex, age AAA diameter and status were examined. The biomechanical response was also fit to a hyperplastic material model. The AAA tissue was found to be anisotropic with a greater tendency to stiffen in the circumferential direction compared to the longitudinal direction. An anisotropic hyperelastic constitutive model represented the data well and the properties were not influenced by the investigated patient specific factors however, a future study utilizing a larger cohort of patients is warranted to confirm these findings. This work provides further insights on the biomechanical behavior of AAA and may be useful in the development of more reliable rupture risk assessment tools.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank the Irish Research Council ‘EMBARK Initiative’ (Grant No. IDRS/2010/2941) for funding this study. BJD would like to acknowledge The University of Western Australia Research Fellowship and NHMRC Project Grant APP1063986. This work was supported by the Irish Government’s Programme for Research in Third Level Institutions Cycle 5, with the assistance of the European Regional Development Fund. The authors would also like to thank the Department of Vascular Surgery, University Hospital Limerick, Ireland, in particular Dr. Peter Coyle, for their help in harvesting and collecting the AAA tissue and also Caleb Horst for providing technical support for the Cellscale Biotester.

Conflict of interest

There are no conflicts of interest.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Mechanical, Aeronautical and Biomedical Engineering Department, MSG-013-020, Centre for Applied Biomedical Engineering Research, Materials and Surfaces Science Institute, University of Limerick, Limerick, Ireland

    Siobhan A. O’Leary, Michael T. Walsh & Tim M. McGloughlin

  2. Department of Vascular Surgery, University Hospital, Limerick, Ireland

    Donagh A. Healey & Eamon G. Kavanagh

  3. Department of Biomedical Engineering, Khalifa University of Science, Technology & Research (KUSTAR), P.O. Box: 127788, Abu Dhabi, UAE

    Tim M. McGloughlin

  4. Vascular Engineering, Intelligent Systems for Medicine Laboratory, School of Mechanical and Chemical Engineering, The University of Western Australia, Perth, WA, 6009, Australia

    Barry J. Doyle

  5. Centre for Cardiovascular Science, The University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK

    Barry J. Doyle

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  1. Siobhan A. O’Leary
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  2. Donagh A. Healey
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  3. Eamon G. Kavanagh
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  4. Michael T. Walsh
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  5. Tim M. McGloughlin
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  6. Barry J. Doyle
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Correspondence to Barry J. Doyle.

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Associate Editor Peter E. McHugh oversaw the review of this article.

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O’Leary, S.A., Healey, D.A., Kavanagh, E.G. et al. The Biaxial Biomechanical Behavior of Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm Tissue. Ann Biomed Eng 42, 2440–2450 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10439-014-1106-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10439-014-1106-5

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