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Region-Dependent Viscoelastic Properties of Human Brain Tissue Under Large Deformations

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Abstract

This study characterizes the mechanical properties of human brain tissue resected during the course of surgery under multistep indentation loading up to 30% strain. The experimental characterization using fresh, post-operative, human brain tissue is highly advantageous since postmortem times can affect its biomechanical behavior. Although the quasilinear theory of viscoelasticity (QLV) approach has been widely used to model brain tissue mechanical properties, our analysis concluded that the linear viscoelastic approach provided a better fit to the experimental data overall. The only statistically significant regional difference in observed stiffness was between the cortex gray and dentate gyrus. There were no statistically significant age or sex dependent differences, although the data suggested that the cortex white matter in males was stiffer than that in females. Our results can help improve the accuracy of finite element models of brain tissue deformation to predict its response to traumatic brain injury.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank Dr. A.A. Sosunov at the Columbia University Medical Center and the patients for providing the human brain tissue samples. The authors acknowledge the computing resources from Columbia University's Shared Research Computing Facility project, which is supported by NIH Research Facility Improvement Grant 1G20RR030893-01, and associated funds from the New York State Empire State Development, Division of Science Technology and Innovation (NYSTAR) Contract C090171, both awarded on April 15, 2010. This study was supported in part by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) (Project No. DTNH22-08-C-00088), a grant from the Paul Allen Family Foundation, and funding from Honda Motor Co., Ltd.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biomedical Engineering, Columbia University, 351 Engineering Terrace MC 8904, 1210 Amsterdam Avenue, New York, NY, 10027, United States

    Sowmya N. Sundaresh, John D. Finan, Benjamin S. Elkin, Andrew V. Basilio & Barclay Morrison III

  2. Department of Neurological Surgery, Columbia University Medical Center, New York Presbyterian Hospital, 710 West 168th St, New York, NY, 10032, United States

    Guy M. McKhann

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  1. Sowmya N. Sundaresh
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Correspondence to Barclay Morrison III.

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Associate Editor Stefan M. Duma oversaw the review of this article.

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Sundaresh, S.N., Finan, J.D., Elkin, B.S. et al. Region-Dependent Viscoelastic Properties of Human Brain Tissue Under Large Deformations. Ann Biomed Eng 50, 1452–1460 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10439-022-02910-7

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