A single strain-based growth law predicts concentric and eccentric cardiac growth during pressure and volume overload

Adult cardiac muscle adapts to mechanical changes in the environment by growth and remodeling (G&R) via a variety of mechanisms. Hypertrophy develops when the heart is subjected to chronic mechanical overload. In ventricular pressure overload (e.g. due to aortic stenosis) the heart typically reacts by concentric hypertrophic growth, characterized by wall thickening due to myocyte radial growth when sarcomeres are added in parallel. In ventricular volume overload, an increase in filling pressure (e.g. due to mitral regurgitation) leads to eccentric hypertrophy as myocytes grow axially by adding sarcomeres in series leading to ventricular cavity enlargement that is typically accompanied by some wall thickening. The specific biomechanical stimuli that stimulate different modes of ventricular hypertrophy are still poorly understood. In a recent study, based on in vitro studies in micropatterned myocyte cell cultures subjected to stretch, we proposed that cardiac myocytes grow longer to maintain a preferred sarcomere length in response to increased fiber strain and grow thicker to maintain interfilament lattice spacing in response to increased cross-fiber strain. Here, we test whether this growth law is able to predict concentric and eccentric hypertrophy in response to aortic stenosis and mitral valve regurgitation, respectively, in a computational model of the adult canine heart coupled to a closed loop model of circulatory hemodynamics. A non-linear finite element model of the beating canine ventricles coupled to the circulation was used. After inducing valve alterations, the ventricles were allowed to adapt in shape in response to mechanical stimuli over time. The proposed growth law was able to reproduce major acute and chronic physiological responses (structural and functional) when integrated with comprehensive models of the pressure-overloaded and volume-overloaded canine heart, coupled to a closed-loop circulation. We conclude that strain-based biomechanical stimuli can drive cardiac growth, including wall thickening during pressure overload.     

Left Ventricular Geometry,Tissue Composition,and Residual Stress in High Fat Diet Dahl-Salt Sensitive Rats

Background

Hypertension drives myocardial remodeling, leading to changes in structure, composition and mechanical behavior, including residual stress, which are linked to heart disease progression in a gender-specific manner. Emerging therapies are also targeting constituent-specific pathological features. All previous studies, however, have characterized remodeling in the intact tissue, rather than isolated tissue constituents, and did not include sex as a biological variable.

Objective

In this study we first identified the contribution of collagen fiber network and myocytes to the myocardial residual stress/strain in Dahl-Salt sensitive rats fed with high fat diet. Then, we quantified the effect of hypertension on the remodeling of the left ventricle (LV), as well as the existence of sex-specific remodeling features.

Methods

We performed mechanical tests (opening angle, ring-test) and histological analysis on isolated constituents and intact tissue of the LV. Based on the measurements from the tests, we performed a stress analysis to evaluate the residual stress distribution. Statistical analysis was performed to identify the effects of constituent isolation, elevated blood pressure, and sex of the animal on the experimental measurements and modeling results.

Results

Hypertension leads to reduced residual stress/strain in the intact tissue, isolated collagen fibers, and isolated myocytes in male and female rats. Collagen remains the largest contributor to myocardial residual stress in both normotensive and hypertensive animals. We identified sex-differences in both hypertensive and normotensive animals.

Conclusions

We observed both constituent- and sex-specific remodeling features in the LV of an animal model of hypertension.

     

Mechanical Stimuli for Left Ventricular Growth During Pressure Overload

Background

The mechanical stimulus (i.e., stress or stretch) for growth occurring in the pressure-overloaded left ventricle (LV) is not exactly known.

Objective

To address this issue, we investigate the correlation between local ventricular growth (indexed by local wall thickness) and the local acute changes in mechanical stimuli after aortic banding.

Methods

LV geometric data were extracted from 3D echo measurements at baseline and 2 weeks in the aortic banding swine model (n?=?4). We developed and calibrated animal-specific finite element (FE) model of LV mechanics against pressure and volume waveforms measured at baseline. After simulation of the acute effects of pressure-overload, the local changes of maximum, mean and minimum myocardial stretches and stresses in three orthogonal material directions (i.e., fiber, sheet and sheet-normal) over a cardiac cycle were quantified. Correlation between mechanical quantities and the corresponding measured local changes in wall thickness was quantified using the Pearson correlation number (PCN) and Spearman rank correlation number (SCN).

Results

At 2 weeks after banding, the average septum thickness decreased from 10.6?±?2.92 mm to 9.49?±?2.02 mm, whereas the LV free-wall thickness increased from 8.69?±?1.64 mm to 9.4?±?1.22 mm. The FE results show strong correlation of growth with the changes in maximum fiber stress (PCN?=?0.5471, SCN?=?0.5111) and changes in the mean sheet-normal stress (PCN?=?0.5266, SCN?=?0.5256). Myocardial stretches, however, do not have good correlation with growth.

Conclusion

These results suggest that fiber stress is the mechanical stimuli for LV growth in pressure-overload.

     

Pressure Wave Evolution in a Fluid with a Bubble Zone

The specific features of pressure wave dynamics in a fluid containing a bubble zone are considered. It is found that for nonlinear waves the shielding effect of the bubble zone, typical of acoustic waves, is less pronounced. In some cases, due to the nonlinear effects and the radial inertia of the bubbly fluid [1], the bubble zone may result in a certain increase in the original-signal amplitude. It is shown that when a bubble screen is located near a solid surface, by choosing an appropriate bubble radius and volume fraction, it is possible to achieve (i) the absence of a reflected signal and (ii) substantial damping of the wave action on the wall.     

A generic approach towards finite growth with examples of athlete's heart, cardiac dilation, and cardiac wall thickening

The objective of this work is to establish a generic continuum-based computational concept for finite growth of living biological tissues. The underlying idea is the introduction of an incompatible growth configuration which naturally introduces a multiplicative decomposition of the deformation gradient into an elastic and a growth part. The two major challenges of finite growth are the kinematic characterization of the growth tensor and the identification of mechanical driving forces for its evolution. Motivated by morphological changes in cell geometry, we illustrate a micromechanically motivated ansatz for the growth tensor for cardiac tissue that can capture both strain-driven ventricular dilation and stress-driven wall thickening. Guided by clinical observations, we explore three distinct pathophysiological cases: athlete's heart, cardiac dilation, and cardiac wall thickening. We demonstrate the computational solution of finite growth within a fully implicit incremental iterative Newton-Raphson based finite element solution scheme. The features of the proposed approach are illustrated and compared for the three different growth pathologies in terms of a generic bi-ventricular heart model.     

Growth and remodeling of the left ventricle: A case study of myocardial infarction and surgical ventricular restoration

Cardiac growth and remodeling in the form of chamber dilation and wall thinning are typical hallmarks of infarct-induced heart failure. Over time, the infarct region stiffens, the remaining muscle takes over function, and the chamber weakens and dilates. Current therapies seek to attenuate these effects by removing the infarct region or by providing structural support to the ventricular wall. However, the underlying mechanisms of these therapies are unclear, and the results remain suboptimal. Here we show that myocardial infarction induces pronounced regional and transmural variations in cardiac form. We introduce a mechanistic growth model capable of predicting structural alterations in response to mechanical overload. Under a uniform loading, this model predicts non-uniform growth. Using this model, we simulate growth in a patient-specific left ventricle. We compare two cases, growth in an infarcted heart, pre-operative, and growth in the same heart, after the infarct was surgically excluded, post-operative. Our results suggest that removing the infarct and creating a left ventricle with homogeneous mechanical properties does not necessarily reduce the driving forces for growth and remodeling. These preliminary findings agree conceptually with clinical observations.     

Pulsatile blood flow in a resistance vessel

The quasi-one-dimensional Newtonian fluid flow in an active vessel in which the inlet pressure oscillates about a mean value is considered. The vascular wall is assumed to display the Bayliss effect and a reaction to changes in blood flow. The first is characterized by the dependence of the contractility of the vascular smooth-muscle cells on the intravascular pressure and the second by the sensitivity of the endothelial cells to the wall shear stress. The dependence of the period-average radius and blood flow rate on the mean value and pulsation amplitude and frequency of the inlet pressure is investigated numerically. The characteristics are compared for the passive vessel, the vessel with the Bayliss effect, and the vessel with both reactions.     

Buoyancy modelling with incompressible SPH for laminar and turbulent flows

This work aims to model buoyant, laminar or turbulent flows, using a two‐dimensional incompressible smoothed particle hydrodynamics model with accurate wall boundary conditions. The buoyancy effects are modelled through the Boussinesq approximation coupled to a heat equation, which makes it possible to apply an incompressible algorithm to compute the pressure field from a Poisson equation. Based on our previous work [1], we extend the unified semi‐analytical wall boundary conditions to the present model. The latter is also combined to a Reynolds‐averaged Navier–Stokes approach to treat turbulent flows. The k ? ? turbulence model is used, where buoyancy is modelled through an additional term in the k ? ? equations like in mesh‐based methods. We propose a unified framework to prescribe isothermal (Dirichlet) or to impose heat flux (Neumann) wall boundary conditions in incompressible smoothed particle hydrodynamics. To illustrate this, a theoretical case is presented (laminar heated Poiseuille flow), where excellent agreement with the theoretical solution is obtained. Several benchmark cases are then proposed: a lock‐exchange flow, two laminar and one turbulent flow in differentially heated cavities, and finally a turbulent heated Poiseuille flow. Comparisons are provided with a finite volume approach using an open‐source industrial code. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Estimate of the residual volume of viscoplastic oil after flooding

The problem of calculating regions of residual viscoplastic oil with a critical pressure gradient is considered. This problem has hitherto been solved mainly for uniform strata (see, for example, [1–3]) but in the present paper, which follows the work of Entov, Pankov, and Pan'ko [4], the problem is considered not only for uniform strata but also for layered strata and vertically nonuniform strata. It is shown that for sufficiently thin strata allowing free flow between individual seams the formulation of the problem is the same for the piston model and the Buckley-Leverett model and reduces to a two-dimensional boundary value problem with a continuous nonlinear effective flow law for the water. An approximate numerical method of calculating regions of residual oil that is suitable for the three listed types of strata is described and illustrated by examples.     

Finite Difference Method for the Acoustic Radiation of an Elastic Plate Excited by a Turbulent Boundary Layer: A Spectral Domain Solution

A finite difference method is developed to study, on a two-dimensional model, the acoustic pressure radiated when a thin elastic plate, clamped at its boundaries, is excited by a turbulent boundary layer. Consider a homogeneous thin elastic plate clamped at its boundaries and extended to infinity by a plane, perfectly rigid, baffle. This plate closes a rectangular cavity. Both the cavity and the outside domain contain a perfect fluid. The fluid in the cavity is at rest. The fluid in the outside domain moves in the direction parallel to the system plate/baffle with a constant speed. A turbulent boundary layer develops at the interface baffle/plate. The wall pressure fluctuations in this boundary layer generates a vibration of the plate and an acoustic radiation in the two fluid domains. Modeling the wall pressure fluctuations spectrum in a turbulent boundary layer developed over a vibrating surface is a very complex and unresolved task. Ducan and Sirkis [1] proposed a model for the two-way interactions between a membrane and a turbulent flow of fluid. The excitation of the membrane is modeled by a potential flow randomly perturbed. This potential flow is modified by the displacement of the membrane. Howe [2] proposed a model for the turbulent wall pressure fluctuations power spectrum over an elastomeric material. The model presented in this article is based on a hypothesis of one-way interaction between the flow and the structure: the flow generates wall pressure fluctuations which are at the origin of the vibration of the plate, but the vibration of the plate does not modify the characteristics of the flow. A finite difference scheme that incorporates the vibration of the plate and the acoustic pressure inside the fluid cavity has been developed and coupled with a boundary element method that ensures the outside domain coupling. In this paper, we focus on the resolution of the coupled vibration/interior acoustic problem. We compare the results obtained with three numerical methods: (a) a finite difference representation for both the plate displacement and the acoustic pressure inside the cavity; (b) a coupled method involving a finite difference representation for the displacement of the plate and a boundary element method for the interior acoustic pressure; (c) a boundary element method for both the vibration of the plate and the interior acoustic pressure. A comparison of the numerical results obtained with two models of turbulent wall pressure fluctuations spectrums - the Corcos model [3] and the Chase model [4] - is proposed. A difference of 20 dB is found in the vibro-acoustic response of the structure. In [3], this difference is explained by calculating a wavenumber transfer function of the plate. In [6], coupled beam-cavity modes for similar geometry are calculated by the finite difference method. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

A numerical study of turbulent flow over a two‐dimensional hill

Calculations of mean velocities and Reynolds stresses are reported for the recirculating flow established in the wake of two‐dimensional polynomial‐shaped obstacles that are symmetrical about a vertical axis and mounted in the water channel downstream of a fully developed channel flow for Re=6×10⁴. The study involves calculations of mean and fluctuating flow properties in the streamwise and spanwise directions and include comparisons with experimental data [Almeida GP, Durão DFG, Heitor MV. Wake flows behind two‐dimensional model hills. Experimental Thermal and Fluid Science 1993; 7: 87–101] for flow around a single obstacle with data resulting from the interaction of consecutive obstacles, using two versions of the low‐Reynolds number differential second‐moment (DSM) closure model. The results include analysis of the turbulent stresses in local flow co‐ordinates and reveal flow structure qualitatively similar to that found in other turbulent flows with a reattachment zone. It is found that the standard isotropization of production model (IPM), based on that proposed by Gibson and Launder [Ground effects on pressure fluctuations in the atmospheric boundary layer. Journal of Fluid Mechanics 1978; 86(3): 191–511], with the incorporation of the wall reflection model of Craft and Launder [New wall‐reflection model applied to the turbulent impinging jet. AIAA Journal 1992; 32(12): 2970–2972] predicts the mean velocities quite well, but underestimates the size of the recirculation region and turbulent quantities in the shear layer. These inadequacies are circumvented by adopting a new cubic Reynolds stress closure scheme based on that more recently developed by Craft and Launder [A Reynolds stress closure designed for complex geometries. International Journal of Heat and Fluid Flow 1996; 17: 245–254] which satisfies the two component limit (TCL) of turbulence. In this model the geometry‐specific quantities, such as the wall‐normal vector or wall distance, are replaced by invariant dimensionless gradient indicators. Also, the model captures the diverse behaviour of the different components of the stress dissipation, ε_ij, near the wall and uses a novel decomposition for the fluctuating pressure terms. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The influence of temperature on rheological properties of blood mixtures with different volume expanders—implications in numerical arterial hemodynamics simulations

During the complicated cardiac surgery on a non-beating heart with cardiopulmonary bypass, protection of the heart is accomplished by injecting cold cardioplegic solutions. In most forms of circulatory shock, it is necessary to immediately restore the circulating volume. Intravenous solutions of volume expanders, such as hydroxyethyl starch and dextrans, are used to increase the volume of fluid in the circulating blood. In this work, blood samples of six donors were obtained and used to prepare mixtures with different volume expanders in concentrations ranging from 10 to 50 vol./vol.%. The flow curves of all mixtures in the temperature range from 4°C to 37°C were constructed and fitted to the Herschel–Bulkley model, in order to extract the shear thinning and yield stress parameters. To assess the influence of the observed changes in the rheological properties of blood on the hemodynamics in arterial vasculature, a realistic three-dimensional rigid-wall computational model was constructed from MRI images of the right carotid bifurcation obtained in vivo from a healthy male volunteer. The time-varying flow field was numerically computed using the Newtonian model as well as the Herschel–Bulkley model with the Papanastasiou regularization. The numerical simulations indicate only moderate changes in the time-averaged flow field that become accentuated when the instantaneous flow field is considered. We also found that although the influence of temperature, hematocrit, and volume expanders on hemodynamics is significant, this can primarily be attributed to the changes in the nominal viscosity of the flow medium.     

A Comparison of Phenomenologic Growth Laws for Myocardial Hypertrophy

The heart grows in response to changes in hemodynamic loading during normal development and in response to valve disease, hypertension, and other pathologies. In general, a left ventricle subjected to increased afterload (pressure overloading) exhibits concentric growth characterized by thickening of individual myocytes and the heart wall, while one experiencing increased preload (volume overloading) exhibits eccentric growth characterized by lengthening of myocytes and dilation of the cavity. Predictive models of cardiac growth could be important tools in evaluating treatments, guiding clinical decision making, and designing novel therapies for a range of diseases. Thus, in the past 20 years there has been considerable effort to simulate growth within the left ventricle. While a number of published equations or systems of equations (often termed “growth laws”) can capture some aspects of experimentally observed growth patterns, no direct comparisons of the various published models have been performed. Here we examine eight of these laws and compare them in a simple test-bed in which we imposed stretches measured during in vivo pressure and volume overload. Laws were compared based on their ability to predict experimentally measured patterns of growth in the myocardial fiber and radial directions as well as the ratio of fiber-to-radial growth. Three of the eight laws were able to reproduce most key aspects of growth following both pressure and volume overload. Although these three growth laws utilized different approaches to predict hypertrophy, they all employed multiple inputs that were weakly correlated during in vivo overload and therefore provided independent information about mechanics.     

A fluid flow model in the lacunar-canalicular system under the pressure gradient and electrical field driven loads

The lacunar-canalicular system (LCS) is acknowledged to directly participate in bone tissue remodeling. The fluid flow in the LCS is synergic driven by the pressure gradient and electric field loads due to the electro-mechanical properties of bone. In this paper, an idealized annulus Maxwell fluid flow model in bone canaliculus is established, and the analytical solutions of the fluid velocity, the fluid shear stress, and the fluid flow rate are obtained. The results of the fluid flow under pressure gradient driven (PGD), electric field driven (EFD), and pressure-electricity synergic driven (P-ESD) patterns are compared and discussed. The effects of the diameter of canaliculi and osteocyte processes are evaluated. The results show that the P-ESD pattern can combine the regulatory advantages of single PGD and EFD patterns, and the osteocyte process surface can feel a relatively uniform shear stress distribution. As the bone canalicular inner radius increases, the produced shear stress under the PGD or P-ESD pattern increases slightly but changes little under the EFD pattern. The increase in the viscosity makes the flow slow down but does not affect the fluid shear stress (FSS) on the canalicular inner wall and osteocyte process surface. The increase in the high-valent ions does not affect the flow velocity and the flow rate, but the FSS on the canalicular inner wall and osteocyte process surface increases linearly. In this study, the results show that the shear stress sensed by the osteocyte process under the P-ESD pattern can be regulated by changing the pressure gradient and the intensity of electric field, as well as the parameters of the annulus fluid and the canaliculus size, which is helpful for the osteocyte mechanical responses. The established model provides a basis for the study of the mechanisms of electro-mechanical signals stimulating bone tissue (cells) growth.

     

The modified Gurson model accounting for the void size effect

The Gurson model [J. Engrg. Mater. Technol. 99 (1977) 2] has been widely used to study the deformation and failure of metallic materials containing microvoids. The void volume fraction is the only parameter representing voids since the void size does not come into play in the Gurson model. Based on the Taylor dislocation model [Proc. R. Soc. (Lond.) A145 (1934) 362; J. Int. Metals 62 (1938) 307], we extend the Gurson model to account for the void size effect. It is shown that the yield surfaces for micron- and submicron-sized voids are significantly larger than that given by the Gurson model. For a voided, dilating material subject to uniaxial tension, the void size has essentially no effect on the stress–strain curve at small initial void volume fraction. However, as the initial void volume fraction increases, the void size effect may become significant.     

心脏作功的动力学过程──考虑动功率的最小功原理

心脏最小功原理是描述心脏做功动力学过程的一种有效模型，在文献［１］中，作者在忽略心脏动功率前提下，给出了心脏做功动力学过程的解析解．但由于动功率在心脏整个做功过程中，特别是在某些病理状态下，占有相当比例，因此，在分析心脏动态做功过程时，应该考虑心脏的总体对外做功．当计入动功率后，方程由原来的线性变成非线性，问题复杂许多，已无法应用原来的解析方法．本文在牛顿法的基础上，得到一种考虑动功率项求解非线性方程组的方法．实例计算表明该方法收敛速度快，所得结果与动物实验相符合．从而使得最小功原理的计算得到完善，为进一步研究心脏做功的动力学过程奠定理论基础．     

An experimental-based model for prediction of flow noise with drag reducing polymers

The drag reduction characteristics of certain high molecular weight polymers have been studied by various investigators. Because of the polymer’s ability to reduce turbulent shear stress and dependence of the boundary layer wall pressure spectral amplitude on the shear stress, polymer has the potential to suppress noise and vibration caused by the boundary layer unsteady pressures. Compared to its effect on drag reduction, polymer additive effects on turbulent boundary layer (TBL) wall pressure fluctuations have received little attention. Kadykov and Lyamshev [Sov. Phys. Acoust. 16 (1970) 59], Greshilor et al. [Sov. Phys. Acoust. 21 (1975) 247] showed that drag reducing polymer additives do indeed reduce wall pressure fluctuations, but they have not established any scaling relationship which effectively collapse data. Some effort has been made by Timothy et al. [JASA 108 (1) (2000) 71] at Penn State University to develop a scaling relationship for TBL wall pressure fluctuations that are modified by adding drag reducing polymer to pure water flow. This paper presents a theoretical model based on the work of the Timothy et al. team at ARL, Penn State University. Through this model one can estimate, reduction in TBL flow induced noise and vibration for rigid smooth surfaces due to release of drag reducing polymers in boundary layer region. Using this theoretical model, flow noise as experienced by a typical flush mounted hydrophone has been estimated for a smooth wall plate as a function of polymer additive concentration. Effect of non-dimensionalisation of the wall pressure fluctuations frequency spectra with traditional outer, inner and mixed flow variables will also be addressed in the paper. The paper also covers a model based on molecular relaxation time in polymer additives which not only reduce drag but also flow induced noise up to certain polymer concentration.     

Numerical solution of the problem of wave diffraction by a wedge

The systematic development of the theory of shock reflection from a solid wall started in [1]. Regular reflection and a three-shock configuration originating in Mach reflection were considered there under the assumption of homogeneity of the domains between the discontinuities and, therefore, of rectilinearity of these latter. The difficulties of the theoretical study include the essential nonlinearity of the process as well as the instability of the tangential discontinuity originating during Mach reflection. Analytic solutions of the problem in a linear formulation are known for a small wedge angle or a weak wave (see [2–4], for example). The solution in a nonlinear formulation has been carried out numerically in [5, 6] for arbitrary wedge angles and wave intensities. Since the wave was nonstationary, the internal flow configuration is difficult to clarify by means of the constant pressure and density curves presented. A formulation of the problem for the complete system of gasdynamics equations in self-similar variables is given in [7] and a method of solution is proposed but no results are presented. Difficulties with the instability of the contact discontinuity are noted. The problem formulation in this paper is analogous to that proposed in [7]. However, a method of straight-through computation without extraction of the compression shocks in the flow field is selected to compute the discontinuous flows. The shocks and contact discontinuities in such a case are domains with abrupt changes in the gasdynamics parameters. The computations were carried out for a broad range of interaction angles and shock intensities. The results obtained are in good agreement with the analytical solutions and experimental results. Information about the additional rise in reflection pressure after the Mach foot has been obtained during the solution.     

Wave motions in viscoelastic tubes. Forced oscillations

A characteristic of small blood and lymphatic vessels is the capacity of the wall to change its rheological properties and lumen by active contraction of the annular muscle cells contained in it [1–3]. A model of flow in the vessels taking this feature into account has been proposed in [4, 5], where a linear stability analysis is also given. A consequence of wall activity is the existence of auto-oscillatory flow conditions [6–8], which have also been discovered in the numerical solutions of the corresponding problems [9, 10]. Up to the present time flows have only been studied under steady conditions at the ends of the vessel and in the environment. The wall of an actual blood vessel is subject to various actions, frequently of a periodic nature: pressure pulsations at entry and rhythmically changing external forces applied from the surrounding tissues. Data exist on the sensitivity of vessels to transient actions [11–13], in particular on the relationship of their hydraulic resistance to frequency and amplitude of the action. There has been frequent discussion of the hypothesis that bv contraction of muscles in its walls or by external compression the vessel can act as a valveless pump [14, 15]. Within the framework of the quasione-dimensional approximation given below [4] the movement of liquid along a viscoelastic tube in the presence of small amplitude periodic external actions has been studied. A general solution of the problem has been constructed and concrete examples are given illustrating the features of forced wave motions in a tube having passive and active properties.Translated from Izvestiya Akademii Nauk SSSR, Mekhanika Zhidkosti i Gaza, No, 4, pp. 94–99, July–August, 1984.