ECCOMAS 2024

A Hybrid Framework To Model Growth and Remodeling in Multi-Constituent Soft Tissues

  • Maga, Ludovica (Delft University of Technology)
  • Noël, Lise (Delft University of Technology)
  • Peirlinck, Mathias (Delft University of Technology)

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Understanding and predicting how soft tissues grow and remodeling (G&R) response to diverse stimuli stands as one of the foremost challenges mechanobiology. Continuum biomechanics has been increasingly employed to understand the intimate relation between mechanical environment and biological G&R in soft tissues. Current G&R models primarily employ two approaches, kinematic growth (KG) and constrained mixture (CM), both holding advantages and disadvantages. KG is computationally efficient but does not consider individual tissue constituent contributions, while CM, which accounts for constituent turnover, presents challenges in computational cost, implementation, and validation. In this work, a hybrid framework is presented for modeling growth and remodeling in a generic load-bearing soft tissue composed of multiple constituents. Herein, the mass change of tissue constituents, attributed to alterations in their density and volume, determines the volumetric growth of the whole tissue. The main advantage of this framework rely on the conceptual simplicity comparable to kinematic growth theory but yet accounting for the influence of multiple constituents with individual growth and degradation rates. Finally, the hybrid model, firstly implemented for a generic biological soft tissue, can be seamlessly made tissue-tailored to model G&R in specific districts of the body.