October Student Seminar

Please join us Thursday, October 15 at noon in ERB 203 for the second BME Student Seminar of the fall semester. Our goal is to create a laid-back environment where BME grad students can share their research and get feedback from their peers. Samer Bou Jawde will be presenting “A Lumped Parameter Model of Fiber Recruitment in the Extracellular Matrix.” Come by to learn about his work, provide feedback, and (of course) enjoy lunch with your peers.

When: Thursday, October 15, 12:00-1:00pm
Where: ERB 203

Fall 2015 Schedule:
Tuesday, November 3: Nitinun Bell Varongchayakul, Amit Mellar Lab
December TBA: Sign up!

Samer Bou Jawde, Bela Suki Lab
A Lumped Parameter Model of Fiber Recruitment in the Extracellular Matrix

The biomechanical properties of biological tissues play important roles in the normal functioning of tissues and organs. These biomechanical properties at the macroscopic scale are characterized by the stress-strain relation which is invariably nonlinear as is the case for fibers embedded in the extracellular matrix (ECM). Previous computational models have attributed the nonlinear behavior to the recruitment of collagen fibers. While such models can simulate microscopic alignment of fibers within the ECM, to our knowledge, their complexity does not allow fitting these models to estimate the microscale properties of the tissue. To this end, a lumped parameter analytical model of tissue stress-strain behavior has been developed that incorporates the alignment of linearly elastic fibers in the elastic ECM. Using simulations, it is demonstrated that this model captures the observed nonlinearity of the stress-strain curve. These results can shed light on the importance and contribution of various microscale properties of the fibers and ECM to macroscale nonlinearity. The simplicity of the approach allows us to fit the model to data and hence extract microscale tissue parameters from macroscale experimental data.