Structure-based mechanical properties of human carotid arteries and their effect on stress-strain response
5 affiliations
- 1Institute of Solid Mechanics, Mechatronics and Biomechanics, Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Brno University of Technology
- 2First Department of Pathology, St. Anne’s University Hospital
- 3Second Department of Surgery, St. Anne’s University Hospital
- 4Tissue Engineering Research Group, Department of Anatomy & Regenerative Medicine, Royal College of Surgeons (RCSI)
- 5Trinity Centre for Biomedical Engineering, Trinity Biomedical Sciences Institute, Trinty College Dublin
Abstract
Mechanical properties and structure of components of an atherosclerotic arterial wall are important for computational prediction of atheroma vulnerability. In this study, a total of 36 specimens harvested during standard carotid endarterectomies were tested under uniaxial tension, followed by histological examination to distinguish their tissue types. The structural composition of the specimens was found to have a significant impact on their mechanical properties, more specifically the extensibility. Specimens with severe atherosclerotic changes exhibited lower extensibility compared with those less impacted by the disease (p-value < 0.005), while no difference was observed in strength. These findings suggest that deformation-related parameters (strains) may be more sensitive to tissue-level disease changes than stress-based measures. A total of 64 computational simulations was performed using patient-specific geometry with isotropic and anisotropic models of individual arterial layers. These models demonstrate that local collagen fibre distribution in the fibrous cap where rupture can occur, is necessary for accurate assessment of strains and stresses. In contrast, population-specific data, such as those obtained in this study, may be sufficient for modelling the outer artery layers where the collagen fibre orientation did not have a significant impact on the strains and stresses in the fibrous cap.
Related
- Adjunctive Cerebrolysin therapy following mechanical thrombectomy for tandem right internal carotid artery and middle cerebral artery occlusion with residual post-procedural perfusion deficit: a case report
- PO017 | BEYOND IONIC STRENGTH: ANION EFFECTS ON FIBRIN CLOT FORMATION, STRUCTURE, AND MECHANICAL PROPERTIES
- Effects of keiser-assisted Nordic hamstring curl training on hamstring flexibility, mechanical properties, and pitching performance in high school baseball pitchers
- Mechanical properties of completely autologous human tissue engineered blood vessels compared to human saphenous vein and mammary artery
- Strategies of mechanical adaptations of circulating tumor cells and properties of their cellular microenvironment have predictive and prognostic biomarker value
BibTeX
@article{hrubanova2026structurebased,
title = {{Structure-based mechanical properties of human carotid arteries and their effect on stress-strain response}},
author = {Anna Hrubanová and Zdeněk Bednařík and Robert Staffa and Robert D. Johnston and Barbora Thomková and Caitríona Lally and Jiří Burša},
journal = {Scientific Reports},
year = {2026},
month = sep,
doi = {10.1038/s41598-026-71492-4},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-71492-4},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Structure-based mechanical properties of human carotid arteries and their effect on stress-strain response
AU - Anna Hrubanová
AU - Zdeněk Bednařík
AU - Robert Staffa
AU - Robert D. Johnston
AU - Barbora Thomková
AU - Caitríona Lally
AU - Jiří Burša
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/09/01
JO - Scientific Reports
DO - 10.1038/s41598-026-71492-4
UR - https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-71492-4
AB - Mechanical properties and structure of components of an atherosclerotic arterial wall are important for computational prediction of atheroma vulnerability. In this study, a total of 36 specimens harvested during standard carotid endarterectomies were tested under uniaxial tension, followed by histological examination to distinguish their tissue types. The structural composition of the specimens was found to have a significant impact on their mechanical properties, more specifically the extensibility. Specimens with severe atherosclerotic changes exhibited lower extensibility compared with those less impacted by the disease (p-value < 0.005), while no difference was observed in strength. These findings suggest that deformation-related parameters (strains) may be more sensitive to tissue-level disease changes than stress-based measures. A total of 64 computational simulations was performed using patient-specific geometry with isotropic and anisotropic models of individual arterial layers. These models demonstrate that local collagen fibre distribution in the fibrous cap where rupture can occur, is necessary for accurate assessment of strains and stresses. In contrast, population-specific data, such as those obtained in this study, may be sufficient for modelling the outer artery layers where the collagen fibre orientation did not have a significant impact on the strains and stresses in the fibrous cap.
SN - 2045-2322
ER -