Multiscale mechanical characterization and computational modeling of fibrin gels

Area of Science:

• Biomaterials Science
• Tissue Engineering
• Biophysics

Background:

• Fibrin is a natural scaffold crucial for wound healing and tissue engineering due to its tunable properties.
• Understanding fibrin's mechanics across different scales is vital for improving regenerative scaffolds and wound healing insights.
• Current characterization methods lack the multi-scale approach needed for comprehensive analysis.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate a strategy for quantifying fibrin mechanics at both macroscale and mesoscale levels.
• To create a computational model informed by experimental data to predict fibrin gel mechanical response.
• To investigate the relationship between fibrin network structure and its mechanical behavior under deformation.

Main Methods:

• Simultaneous macroscale tensile testing and mesoscale confocal microscopy of fluorescently labeled fibrin gels.
• Development of a computational model integrating experimental data to capture fibrin gel mechanics.
• Application of finite element analysis to predict strain fields within heterogeneous fibrin gels.

Main Results:

• Quantified macroscale stress-strain response and mesoscale network deformation during tensile tests.
• Observed significant volume reduction (up to 88%) and increased volume fraction in deformed fibrin gels.
• Demonstrated non-affine fiber alignment along the deformation direction and accurately predicted heterogeneous strain fields using the computational model.

Conclusions:

• The developed strategy effectively quantifies multi-scale fibrin mechanics and network organization.
• The computational model accurately predicts fibrin gel mechanical behavior, aiding in scaffold design.
• These methods offer a pathway to characterize and predict the mechanics of other biological tissues and matrices, advancing regenerative medicine.