Region-Dependent Viscoelastic Properties of Human Brain Tissue Under Large Deformations

This study characterizes the mechanical properties of human brain tissue resected during the course of surgery under multistep indentation loading up to 30% strain. The experimental characterization using fresh, post-operative, human brain tissue is highly advantageous since postmortem times can affect its biomechanical behavior. Although the quasilinear theory of viscoelasticity (QLV) approach has been widely used to model brain tissue mechanical properties, our analysis concluded that the linear viscoelastic approach provided a better fit to the experimental data overall. The only statistically significant regional difference in observed stiffness was between the cortex gray and dentate gyrus. There were no statistically significant age or sex dependent differences, although the data suggested that the cortex white matter in males was stiffer than that in females. Our results can help improve the accuracy of finite element models of brain tissue deformation to predict its response to traumatic brain injury.