Active and passive material response of urinary bladder smooth muscle tissue in uniaxial and biaxial tensile testing.

The urinary bladder is a hollow organ that undergoes significant deformation as it receives, stores, and releases urine. To understand the organ mechanics, it is necessary to obtain information about the material properties of the tissues involved. In displacement-controlled tensile tests, tissue samples are mounted on a device that applies stretches to the tissue in one or more directions, resulting in a specific stress response.

Machine learning reveals correlations between brain age and mechanics.

Our brain undergoes significant micro- and macroscopic changes throughout its life cycle. It is therefore crucial to understand the effect of aging on the mechanical properties of the brain in order to develop accurate personalized simulations and diagnostic tools. Here we systematically probed the mechanical behavior of n=439 brain tissue samples in tension and compression, in different anatomical regions, for different axon orientations, across five age groups.

Influence of muscle packing on the three-dimensional architecture of rabbit M. plantaris.

In their physiological condition, muscles are surrounded by connective tissue, other muscles and bone. These tissues exert transverse forces that change the three-dimensional shape of the muscle compared to its isolated condition, in which all surrounding tissues are removed. A change in shape affects the architecture of a muscle and therefore its mechanical properties.

The anisotropic and region-dependent mechanical response of wrap-around tendons under tensile, compressive and combined multiaxial loads.

The present work reports on the multiaxial region and orientation-dependent mechanical properties of two porcine wrap-around tendons under tensile, compressive and combined loads based on an extensive study with n=175 samples. The results provide a detailed dataset of the anisotropic tensile and compressive longitudinal properties and document a pronounced tension-compression asymmetry. Motivated by the physiological loading conditions of these tendons, which include transversal compression at bony abutments in addition to longitudinal tension, we systematically investigated the change in axial tension when the tendon is compressed transversally along one or both perpendicular directions.

Regional differences in stomach stretch during organ filling and their implications on the mechanical stress response.

As part of the digestive system, the stomach plays a crucial role in the health and well-being of an organism. It produces acids and performs contractions that initiate the digestive process and begin the break-up of ingested food. Therefore, its mechanical properties are of interest.

Influence of muscle length on the three-dimensional architecture and aponeurosis dimensions of rabbit calf muscles.

The function of a muscle is highly dependent on its architecture, which is characterized by the length, pennation, and curvature of the fascicles, and the geometry of the aponeuroses. During in vivo function, muscles regularly undergo changes in length, thereby altering their architecture. During passive muscle lengthening, fascicle length (FL) generally increases and the angle of fascicle pennation (FP) and the fascicle curvature (FC) decrease, while the aponeuroses increase in length but decrease in width.

Process Parameters and Geometry Effects on Piezoresistivity in Additively Manufactured Polymer Sensors.

The current work experimentally determined how the initial resistance and gauge factor in additively manufactured piezoresistive sensors are affected by the material, design, and process parameters. This was achieved through the tensile testing of sensors manufactured with different infill angles, layer heights, and sensor thicknesses using two conductive polymer composites. Linear regression models were then used to analyze which of the input parameters had significant effects on the sensor properties and which interaction effects existed.

A geometry model of the porcine stomach featuring mucosa and muscle layer thicknesses.

The stomach is a vital organ responsible for food storage, digestion, and transport. Stomach diseases are of great economic and medical importance and require a large number of bariatric surgeries every year. To improve medical interventions, in silico modeling of the gastrointestinal tract has gained popularity in recent years to study stomach functioning.

Three-dimensional multi-field modelling of gastric arrhythmias and their effects on antral contractions.

The contraction activation of smooth muscle in the stomach wall (SW) is coordinated by slow electrical waves. The interstitial cells of Cajal (ICC), specialised pacemaker cells, initiate and propagate these slow waves. By establishing an electrically coupled network, each ICC adjusts its intrinsic pacing frequency to a single dominant frequency, to be a key aspect in modelling the electrophysiology of gastric tissue.

On a three-dimensional model for the description of the passive characteristics of skeletal muscle tissue.

In this work, a three-dimensional model was developed to describe the passive mechanical behaviour of anisotropic skeletal muscle tissue. To validate the model, orientation-dependent axial ([Formula: see text], [Formula: see text], [Formula: see text]) and semi-confined compression experiments (mode I, II, III) were performed on soleus muscle tissue from rabbits. In the latter experiments, specimen deformation is prescribed in the loading direction and prevented in an additional spatial direction, fibre compression at [Formula: see text] (mode I), fibre elongation at [Formula: see text] (mode II) and a neutral state of the fibres at [Formula: see text] where their length is kept constant (mode III).

Effect of Internal Defects on the Fatigue Behavior of Additive Manufactured Metal Components: A Comparison between Ti6Al4V and Inconel 718.

In order to obtain a widespread application of Additive Manufactured (AM) technology in the aircraft industry for fatigue critical parts, a detailed characterization of the Fatigue and Damage Tolerance (F&DT) behavior of structural components is required. Metal AM techniques in particular are prone to internal defects inherently present due to the nature of the process, which have a detrimental effect on fatigue properties. In the present work, Ti6Al4V and Inconel 718 coupons with artificially induced defects of different dimensions were produced by the Laser Powder Bed Fusion (LPBF) technique.

Influence of a Flat Polyimide Inlay on the Propagation of Guided Ultrasonic Waves in a Narrow GFRP-Specimen.

Structural health monitoring systems for composite laminates using guided ultrasonic waves become more versatile with the structural integration of sensors. However, the data generated within these sensors have to be transmitted from the laminate to the outside, where polyimide-based printed circuit boards play a major role. This study investigates, to what extent integrated polyimide inlays with applied sensor bodies influence the guided ultrasonic wave propagation in glass fiber-reinforced polymer specimens.

3D-Printable Piezoelectric Composite Sensors for Acoustically Adapted Guided Ultrasonic Wave Detection.

Commercially available photopolymer resins can be combined with lead zirconate titanate (PZT) micrometer size piezoelectric particles to form 3D-printable suspensions that solidify under UV light. This in turn makes it possible to realize various non-standard sensor geometries which might bring benefits, such as increased piezoelectric output in specific conditions and less interference with incoming waves due to better acoustical adaptation compared to solid PZT ceramics. However, it is unclear whether piezoelectric composite materials are suitable for guided ultrasonic wave (GUW) detection, which is crucial for structural health monitoring (SHM) in different applications.

Polyetherimide-Reinforced Smart Inlays for Bondline Surveillance in Composites.

An integrable sensor inlay for monitoring crack initiation and growth inside bondlines of structural carbon fiber-reinforced plastic (CFRP) components is presented. The sensing structures are sandwiched between crack-stopping poly(vinyliden fluoride) (PVDF) and a thin reinforcing polyetherimide (PEI) layer. Good adhesion at all interfaces of the sensor system and to the CFRP material is crucial, as weak bonds can counteract the desired crack-stopping functionality.

Correlating the microstructural architecture and macrostructural behaviour of the brain.

The computational simulation of pathological conditions and surgical procedures, for example the removal of cancerous tissue, can contribute crucially to the future of medicine. Especially for brain surgery, these methods can be important, as the ultra-soft tissue controls vital functions of the body. However, the microstructural interactions and their effects on macroscopic material properties remain incompletely understood.

MEMS Vibrometer for Structural Health Monitoring Using Guided Ultrasonic Waves.

Structural health monitoring of lightweight constructions made of composite materials can be performed using guided ultrasonic waves. If modern fiber metal laminates are used, this requires integrated sensors that can record the inner displacement oscillations caused by the propagating guided ultrasonic waves. Therefore, we developed a robust MEMS vibrometer that can be integrated while maintaining the structural and functional compliance of the laminate.

A pilot study on active and passive ex vivo characterisation of the urinary bladder and its impact on three-dimensional modelling.

Insight into the global deformation of the urinary bladder during passive and active phases is crucial for understanding the biomechanics and function of the organ. Therefore, in the present study, the three-dimensional deformations of the porcine urinary bladder were investigated using 10 cameras in ex vivo experiments. Voltages between 20 V and 40 V were applied to induce contraction without outflow (isovolumetric) and against different back pressures (isobaric).

Poro-viscoelastic behaviour of the zona pellucida: Impact of three-dimensional modelling on material characterisation.

The development of objective biomarkers for the qualitative assessment of oocytes prior to in-vitro fertilisation procedures is crucial, and in this respect the mechanical response of cells has already emerged as a promising and valid measure. The test setups derived from this conceptual approach usually induce complex, partly asymmetric deformation states, so that the process of material parameter identification can only be realised via three-dimensional, mathematical models. In the present study, a three-dimensional model for oocytes is proposed and implemented in the form of the finite element method.

On multiscale tension-compression asymmetry in skeletal muscle.

Skeletal muscle tissue shows a clear asymmetry with regard to the passive stresses under tensile and compressive deformation, referred to as tension-compression asymmetry (TCA). The present study is the first one reporting on TCA at different length scales, associated with muscle tissue and muscle fibres, respectively. This allows for the first time the comparison of TCA between the tissue and one of its individual components, and thus to identify the length scale at which this phenomenon originates.

Phase Transitions of Polarised PVDF Films in a Standard Curing Process for Composites.

The article reports on the influence of annealing PVDF in an autoclave process on the PVDF phase composition. DSC, FTIR and XRD measurements serve to observe the phase changes in an already stretched, polarised and β-phase rich film. Annealing was conducted between 90 and 185 ∘C to cover a broad range of curing processes in an autoclave.

Age-dependent mechanical and microstructural properties of the rabbit soleus muscle.

During growth there are serious changes in the skeletal muscles to compensate for the changed requirements in terms of body weight and size. In this study, the age-dependent (between 21 and 100 days) mechanical and microstructural properties of rabbit soleus muscle tissue were investigated. For this purpose, morphological properties (animal mass, soleus muscle mass, tibial length) were measured at 5 different times during aging.

Architectural model for muscle growth during maturation.

Muscle architecture, which includes parameters like fascicle length, pennation angle, and physiological cross-sectional area, strongly influences skeletal muscles' mechanical properties. During maturation, the muscle architecture has to adapt to a growing organism. This study aimed to develop an architectural model capable of predicting the complete 3D fascicle architecture for primarily unipennate muscles of an arbitrary age, based on fascicle data for an initial age.