Balakrishna Haridas

3D strain measurement in soft tissue: demonstration of a novel inverse finite element model algorithm on MicroCT images of a tissue phantom exposed to negative pressure wound therapy.

This study describes a novel system for acquiring the 3D strain field in soft tissue at sub-millimeter spatial resolution during negative pressure wound therapy (NPWT). Recent research in advanced wound treatment modalities theorizes that microdeformations induced by the application of sub-atmospheric (negative) pressure through V.A.C. GranuFoam Dressing, a reticulated open-cell polyurethane foam (ROCF), is instrumental in regulating the mechanobiology of granulation tissue formation [Saxena, V., Hwang, C.W., Huang, S., Eichbaum, Q., Ingber, D., Orgill, D.P., 2004. Vacuum-assisted closure: Microdeformations of wounds and cell proliferation. Plast. Reconstr. Surg. 114, 1086-1096]. While the clinical response is unequivocal, measurement of deformations at the wound-dressing interface has not been possible due to the inaccessibility of the wound tissue beneath the sealed dressing. Here we describe the development of a bench-test wound model for microcomputed tomography (microCT) imaging of deformation induced by NPWT and an algorithm set for quantifying the 3D strain field at sub-millimeter resolution. Microdeformations induced in the tissue phantom revealed average tensile strains of 18%-23% at sub-atmospheric pressures of -50 to -200 mmHg (-6.7 to -26.7 kPa). The compressive strains (22%-24%) and shear strains (20%-23%) correlate with 2D FEM studies of microdeformational wound therapy in the reference cited above. We anticipate that strain signals quantified using this system can then be used in future research aimed at correlating the effects of mechanical loading on the phenotypic expression of dermal fibroblasts in acute and chronic ulcer models. Furthermore, the method developed here can be applied to continuum deformation analysis in other contexts, such as 3D cell culture via confocal microscopy, full scale CT and MRI imaging, and in machine vision.

Passive biomechanical properties of human cadaveric levator ani muscle at low strains

The objective of this study was to measure and model the passive biomechanics of cadaveric levator ani muscle in the fiber direction at low strains with a moderately slow deformation rate. Nine levator ani samples, extracted from female cadavers aged 64 to 96 years, underwent preconditioning and uniaxial biomechanical analysis on a tensile testing apparatus after the original width, thickness, and length were measured. The load extension data and measured dimensions were used to calculate stress-strain curves for each sample. The resulting stress-strain curves up to 10% strain were fit to four different constitutive models to determine which model was most appropriate for the data. A power-law model with two parameters was found to fit the data most accurately. Constitutive parameters did not correlate significantly with age in this study; this may be because all of the cadavers were postmenopausal.

Validation of three-dimensional strain tracking by volumetric ultrasound image correlation in a pubovisceral muscle model

Little is understood about the biomechanical changes leading to pelvic floor disorders such as stress urinary incontinence. In order to measure regional biomechanical properties of the pelvic floor muscles in vivo, a three dimensional (3D) strain tracking technique employing correlation of volumetric ultrasound images has been implemented. In this technique, local 3D displacements are determined as a function of applied stress and then converted to strain maps. To validate this approach, an in vitro model of the pubovisceral muscle, with a hemispherical indenter emulating the downward stress caused by intra-abdominal pressure, was constructed. Volumetric B-scan images were recorded as a function of indenter displacement while muscle strain was measured independently by a sonomicrometry system (Sonometrics). Local strains were computed by ultrasound image correlation and compared with sonomicrometry-measured strains to assess strain tracking accuracy. Image correlation by maximizing an exponential likelihood function was found more reliable than the Pearson correlation coefficient. Strain accuracy was dependent on sizes of the subvolumes used for image correlation, relative to characteristic speckle length scales of the images. Decorrelation of echo signals was mapped as a function of indenter displacement and local tissue orientation. Strain measurement accuracy was weakly related to local echo decorrelation.