BIOLOCHANICS was a five-year and eight-month project aimed at achieving patient-specific predictions of aneurysm risk of rupture and of aneurysm reactions to biochemical treatments. Four work packages (WPs) were planned and all of them are conducted in parallel. Below we summarize the main achievements of the fourth period of the project:
WP1. We were the first worldwide to achieve patient specific simulations with the homogenized constrained mixture model by coupling two commercial software: Ansys and Abaqus (combined efforts of 2 postdocs: Jamal Mousavi and Jayendiran Raja). Our PhD student Joan Laubrie, who had a scholarship from CONYCIT (Chilean government) implemented the model in an open source environment which is hosted in Github. At the end of the project, we had a postdoc (Ataollah Ghavamian) who refined the model with the contractile role of Smooth Muscle Cells (SMCs).
WP2. We developed mechanobiological experiments of induced proteolytic remodelling on porcine aortas collected from a local abattoir. With that, we were able to identify material properties and damage mechanisms preceding rupture in porcine thoracic aortas. We also studied SMCs (thesis of Claudie Petit). We were able to obtain very interesting and original results, showing for instance that the basal tone of SMCs is larger in ATAAs and that this can be explained by the presence of hypertrophic cells. The hypertrophy and the larger basal tones are correlated with the need to maintain the extracellular matrix which is undergoing damage in aneurysms. We also involved Ali Karkhaneh (post-doc hired for WP4) to develop a finite-element model of SMCs in order to elucidate the links between the evolution of aortic tissue and the regulation of forces inside the cell.
WP3. We were able to measure the 3D strain fields of thick aneurysmal wall under pressure and this permitted to understand how the wall remodels in aortic lesions. We recently published a major paper in Nature Scientific Reports. It summarizes more than 4 years of work in collaboration with Jay Humphrey’s group.
WP4. We developed finite element models (fluid and solid) of the different patients involved in the study permitting to have for the first time the conceptual models of WP1 applied to predict aneurysm progression in real patients. The coupling between fluid analyses and structural analysis was established by assuming that regions of high wall shear stress are the ones where lesions start, and this is followed by remodeling. We have published a number of papers on these achievements and delivered numerous invited speeches and seminars.
