Modeling Patient-Specific Periaortic Interactions with Static and Dynamic Structures Using a Moving Heterogeneous Elastic Foundation Boundary Condition

摘要: Perivascular support and tethering are likely relevant factors in vascular mechanics and one of the possible causes of deformational heterogeneity of the aortic wall. Besides these effects, the thoracic aorta interacts with the heart and other moving tissues and organs. We propose a generalized approach to model the effect of aortic interactions with static and dynamic perivascular structures. Periaortic interactions are modeled as a heterogeneous Elastic Foundation Boundary Condition (EFBC). This is implemented in the Finite Element model as a collection of unidimensional springs attached to the adventitial surface and a movable opposite end. An optimization algorithm iterates over the material constants and EFBC parameters to fit the simulated nodal displacements or the aortic wall to patient-specific DENSE MRI-derived displacements. We hypothesize that the adventitial load distribution that replicates the in …