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Repeated loading and damage progression in cerebral arteries.
Farshid Shojaeianforoud1, Leonardo Marin1, William J Anderl1
1Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, USA.
Acta Biomaterialia
|March 16, 2025
Summary
Repetitive head trauma causes cumulative damage to cerebral arteries, leading to progressive softening. This vascular damage may worsen traumatic brain injury (TBI) outcomes.
Area of Science:
- Biomedical Engineering
- Mechanobiology
- Neuroscience
Background:
- Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a significant public health concern.
- The mechanical response of cerebral blood vessels to repetitive head trauma is not well understood.
- Understanding vessel mechanics is crucial for predicting TBI progression.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the mechanical response of cerebral arteries to repetitive overstretch.
- To determine if repeated overstretch leads to cumulative damage in cerebral vessels.
- To characterize the softening effects as a function of overstretch magnitude and repetitions.
Main Methods:
- Piglet middle cerebral artery segments were subjected to high-rate, sub-yield overstretch.
- Vessels underwent up to 10 repetitions of varying overstretch severities.
- Stress-stretch behavior was analyzed to quantify mechanical changes.
Main Results:
- Repetitive overstretch induced progressive softening, increasing with overstretch magnitude and repetitions.
- Softening was primarily observed in the toe region of the stress-stretch curve.
- Severe overstretches caused immediate softening, with minimal additional change from subsequent exposures.
Conclusions:
- Repetitive overstretch causes cumulative damage and softening in cerebral arteries.
- Progressive vessel softening may increase vulnerability and exacerbate TBI.
- Findings inform constitutive damage models for improved TBI prediction.
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