Journal of Vascular Surgery
Volume 37, Issue 5 , Pages 1118-1128, May 2003

Computational modeling of arterial biomechanics: Insights into pathogenesis and treatment of vascular disease☆☆★★

London and Toronto, Canada; and Pittsburgh, Pa

From Imaging Research Laboratories, Robarts Research Institute, and Departments of Medical Biophysics and Diagnostic Radiology, University of Western Ontario,a the Departments of Surgery and Bioengineering, and McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine, University of Pittsburgh,b and the Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, and Institute of Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering, University of Toronto.c

Received 30 April 2002; accepted 15 August 2002.

Abstract 

We review how advances in computational techniques are improving our understanding of the biomechanical behavior of the healthy and diseased cardiovascular system. Numerical modeling of biomechanics is being used in a wide variety of ways, including assessment of effects of mural and hemodynamically induced stresses on atherogenesis, development of risk measures for aneurysm rupture, improvement in interpretation of medical images, and quantification of oxygen transport in diseased and healthy arteries. Although not amenable to routine clinical use, numerical modeling of cardiovascular biomechanics is a powerful research tool. (J Vasc Surg 2003;37:1118-28.)

 

 Competition of interest: none.

☆☆ Supported by ongoing financial assistance from the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Ontario (Grant T-4770 and a New Investigator Award [D.A.S.]); by The Whitaker Foundation, the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, The Pittsburgh Foundation, and National Institutes of Health Grant RO1 HL60670-01A2 (D.A.V.); and by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (C.R.E.).

 Reprint requests to: C. Ross Ethier, PhD, Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada M5S 3G8 (email: ethier@mie.utoronto.ca).

★★ 0741-5214/2003/$30.00 + 0

PII: S0741-5214(02)75263-4

doi:10.1067/mva.2003.122

Journal of Vascular Surgery
Volume 37, Issue 5 , Pages 1118-1128, May 2003