Understanding the passive mechanical behavior of the human abdominal wall

The aim of this work is to present a methodology to model the passive mechanical behavior of the human abdomen during physiological movements. From a mechanical point of view, it is possible to predict where hernia formation is likely to occur since the areas that support higher stresses can be identified as the most vulnerable ones. For this purpose, a realistic geometry of the human abdomen is obtained from magnetic resonance imaging. The model defines different anatomical structures of the abdomen, including muscles and aponeuroses, and anisotropic mechanical properties are assigned. The finite element model obtained from the geometric human model, which includes initial strains, is used to simulate the anisotropic passive behavior of the healthy human abdomen under intra-abdominal pressure. This study demonstrates that the stiffest structures, namely aponeuroses and particularly the linea alba, are the structures that perform the most work in the abdomen. Thus, the linea alba is the most important unit contributing to the mechanical stability of the abdominal wall.