Mechanical blood-tissue interaction in contracting muscles

Abstract

A finite element (FE) model of blood perfused biological tissue has been developed. Blood perfusion is described by fluid flow through a series of 5 intercommunicating vascular compartments that are embedded in the tissue. Each compartment is characterized by a blood flow permeability tensor, blood volume fraction and vessel compliance. Local non-linear relationships between intra-extra vascular pressure difference and blood volume fraction, and between blood volume fraction and the permeability tensor, are included in the FE model. To test the implementation of these non-linear relations, FE results of blood perfusion in a piece of tissue that is subject to increased intramuscular pressure, are compared to results that are calculated with a lumped parameter (LP) model of blood perfusion. FE simulation of blood flow through a contracting rat calf muscle is performed. The FE model used in this simulation contains a transversely isotropic, non-linearly elastic description of deforming muscle tissue, in which local contraction stress is prescribed as a function of time. FE results of muscle tension, total arterial inflow and total venous outflow of the muscle during contraction, correspond to experimental results of an isometrically and tetanically contracting rat calf muscle.

Modeling of the Coronary Circulatory System

“…The model-predicted mechanical behavior is similar to animal experimental results by May-Newman et al (1994). Vankan et al (1998) modeled the interaction between vascular compartment and contracting skeletal muscles with finite element method. The vascular compartment in their model is characterized by a blood flow permeability tensor, blood volume fraction, and vessel compliance.…”

A novel method of studying fascicle architecture in relaxed and contracted muscles

“…In many studies, for example those that model intramuscular pressure or force transmission (Vankan et al, 1998;Jenkyn et al, 2002;Yücesoy et al, 2002), muscle fascicles are represented by straight lines running between attachment sites (e.g., Woittiez et al, 1984;Johansson et al, 2000). As this study shows, curvature represents an important parameter and should be integrated in models.…”

“…Increasingly, the finite-element mesh method is used to describe muscle behaviour. In this method, individual elements representing the contractile units are interlinked by mathematical equations (e.g., Vankan et al, 1998;Johansson et al, 2000;Meier and Blickhan, 2000;Jenkyn et al, 2002;Oomens et al, 2003;Blemker et al, 2006;Böl and Reese, 2008;Hedenstierna et al, 2008;Yücesoy et al, 2008;Tang et al, 2009). To verify such models, comparison with natural muscles are essential and the more accurate the input parameters for these muscle models, the more precise will be the predicted behaviour and thus the simulated motion (van der Linden et al, 1998).…”

Diffusion tensor imaging in biomechanical studies of skeletal muscle function

“…In addition, this study shows the practical use of the DTI method in biomechanical research on skeletal muscle functioning. The finite element (FE) method, which has become familiar in biomechanical research on skeletal and cardiac muscle behaviour (Vankan et al 1991(Vankan et al , 1998Bovenderd et al 1992 ;Huyghe et al 1992), essentially makes use of geometric and spatial information. One major difficulty and time-consuming issue in such studies is to generate accurate FE meshes.…”

“…A local fibre direction was assigned to each element, which was calculated by averaging the DTI directions in the previously determined appropriate voxel size surrounding the element centre. A simulated tetanic contraction of the TA with these realistic fibre directions was performed using the finite element model of perfused contracting skeletal muscle recently described by Vankan et al (1996Vankan et al ( , 1998.…”