Towards an orientation-distribution-based multi-scale approach for remodelling biological tissues.

Area of Science:

• Biomechanics
• Computational Biology
• Materials Science

Background:

• Soft biological tissues exhibit complex mechanical behaviors across multiple scales.
• Accurately modeling these tissues requires integrating micromechanical phenomena into macroscopic constitutive equations.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a computational model for simulating soft fibrous tissues.
• To incorporate micromechanical fiber orientation effects into macroscopic constitutive models.
• To capture physiological processes like tissue remodeling.

Main Methods:

• Utilized a Taylor-type homogenization approach to link micro/meso-level fiber orientations to macro-level tissue behavior.
• Developed evolution equations for fiber orientations to account for tissue turnover and remodeling.
• Integrated the derived equations into a nonlinear finite element framework for simulations.

Main Results:

• The model successfully reflects macroscopically orthotropic responses in soft fibrous tissues.
• The incorporation of fiber orientation evolution equations allows for the simulation of physiological remodeling.
• Demonstrated the feasibility of the approach through initial finite element simulations.

Conclusions:

• The developed computational framework effectively models the mechanical behavior of soft fibrous tissues, including remodeling.
• The Taylor homogenization approach provides a robust link between fiber-level mechanics and macroscopic tissue response.
• This work lays the foundation for more sophisticated simulations of biological tissue mechanics.