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Updated: Jan 8, 2026
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Refined Murine Model of Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis
Published on: June 17, 2025
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Modelling the Squishy Effect in Interstitial Pulmonary Fibrosis.
Raffaella Rizzoni1, Roberto Tonelli2, Alessandro Marchioni2
1Department of Engineering, University of Ferrara, Ferrara, Italy.
International Journal for Numerical Methods in Biomedical Engineering
|December 18, 2025
Summary
Heterogeneous mechanics in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) create high stress in lung alveoli. Our model quantifies these injurious mechanical stimuli, identifying key factors driving fibrosis progression.
Area of Science:
- Biomedical Engineering
- Pulmonary Medicine
- Computational Biology
Background:
- Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) exhibits heterogeneous lung mechanics due to alternating fibrotic and healthy regions.
- This mechanical heterogeneity is hypothesized to trigger mechanotransduction pathways, driving disease progression.
- Quantifying the mechanical stress in these environments is crucial for understanding IPF pathogenesis.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop and utilize a mechanical model simulating alveolar inflation within heterogeneous lung environments.
- To quantify the mechanical stimuli, specifically stress and strain, at the interface of healthy and fibrotic lung tissue.
- To assess the impact of parameter uncertainty on these mechanical predictions.
Main Methods:
- Developed a finite element analysis (FEA) model of a single alveolus, modeled as a hyperelastic membrane with surface tension.
- Simulated static inflation under varying degrees of confinement by springs, representing fibrotic tissue.
- Performed uncertainty quantification (UQ) and quantitative sensitivity analysis (QSA) to evaluate model robustness and identify key parameters.
Main Results:
- FEA revealed significant stress and strain peaks at the boundaries between confined (fibrotic) and unconfined (healthy) alveolar regions.
- UQ confirmed that these localized stress peaks are robust across variations in material properties and confinement extent.
- QSA identified the angle of confinement and spring stiffness as primary drivers of peak stress magnitude.
Conclusions:
- The study quantifies potentially injurious mechanical stress concentrations in IPF lungs, supporting the hypothesis that mechanical forces drive fibrosis.
- Findings provide a foundation for future research integrating biological responses like growth and remodeling.
- This mechanical insights can inform the development of novel therapeutic strategies for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.
