The main results of the SOFT-TISSUES projects are new mathematical models that predict the mechanical behaviour of different soft tissues such as the brain and tissues with direction- dependent properties (skin, muscles, tendons) under large deformations. I developed:
•Novel, robust and validated modelling approaches to determine the elastic and visco- elastic properties of the brain in the large deformation regime. Based on our mechanical torsion tests on porcine brain samples, we observed and quantified a typical nonlinear property, the Poynting effect, i.e. the tendency of soft matter to expand in the direction perpendicular to the twisting or shearing plane;
• Computer simulations of traumatic head impacts (car and sport accidents) leading to brain damage. We generated coloured maps of the brain showing the regions of highest stress and strain, associated with tissue damage;
• A viscoelastic model for soft tissues with a family of fibres (transversely isotropic) which predicts their time-dependent response under large deformations;
• A mathematical model for the early development of human brain organoids. Organoids are prototypes of real brains, used to study the physiological and pathological development of the organ. This model can be used to identify any deviation from a physiological developing process, helping doctors in identifying at very early stage, the presence of malformations in the brain.
I completed three scientific journal papers: one published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society of London A, one accepted in Soft Matter and one currently under review in Physical Review Letters. All are high impact factor journals in the Applied Mathematics, Engineering and Physics communities. I also edited a special issue on “Constitutive modelling in Biomechanics” for the International Journal of Non-Linear Mechanics and organized a mini- symposium on this topic at the British Applied Mathematics Colloquium (BAMC) in St Andrews in March 2018, one of the biggest UK applied maths conferences
I disseminated my results at several international and national conferences:
• Oberwolfach miniworkshop on Mathematical Aspects of Nonlinear Wave Propagation in Solid Mechanics (invited talk), Mathematisches Forschungsinstitut Oberwolfach 03/03/19 – 09/03/19, Germany;
• 10th European Solid Mechanics Conference (invited talk to the simposium Nonlinear Elasticity), Bologna 02/07/18 – 06/07/18, Italy;
• Indam meeting: Mathematical Physics of living systems (invited talk), Cortona 27/08/17 - 01/09/17, Italy;
• International conference on modeling nonlinear continua (invited talk), Castro Urdiales 26/06/17 - 30/06/17, Spain;
• Third Workshop on Soft Tissue Modelling, Glasgow 07/06/17 - 9/06/17, UK.
To further communicate my research results to a wider audience, I delivered several talks and seminars and participated in the following outreach activities:
• FameLab Galway, with a 3-minute talk entitled “the invisible universe”;
• Maths Lessons in Middle School: I taught 9 lessons to 11 to 13 years old pupils, on four different maths topics: mathematics of the bicycle, the mechanics of the brain, the shape of the gut and how to "watch" the sound;
• Open Days at the host institution NUI Galway;
• An article published on RTE Brainstorm, an online section of the Irish television channel RTE) on “Exploring the hidden black holes at the centre of our galaxy”.
• Contribution to an article “Artificial skin could allow robots to feel like we do” published in Horizon, the EU Research & Innovation Magazine, which was also posted on Printed Electronics World.
