Review of the Techniques Used for Investigating the Role Elastin and Collagen Play in Arterial Wall Mechanics

The arterial wall is characterised by a complex microstructure that impacts the mechanical properties of the vascular tissue. The main components consist of collagen and elastin fibres, proteoglycans, Vascular Smooth Muscle Cells (VSMCs) and ground matrix. While VSMCs play a key role in the active m...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:IEEE reviews in biomedical engineering Vol. 14; pp. 256 - 269
Main Authors: Giudici, Alessandro, Wilkinson, Ian B., Khir, Ashraf W.
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: United States IEEE 2021
The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. (IEEE)
Subjects:
Arterial mechanics
arterial microstructure
arterial stiffness
Arteries
Collagen
Elastin
Experimental methods
Imaging techniques
Mechanical analysis
Mechanical properties
Mechanical tests
Mechanics
Mechanics (physics)
Media
Micromechanics
Microscopy
Pathology
Proteins
Proteoglycans
Research methodology
Reviews
Smooth muscle
Stress
Structural proteins
Structure-function relationships
Vascular tissue
ISSN:1937-3333, 1941-1189, 1941-1189
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:The arterial wall is characterised by a complex microstructure that impacts the mechanical properties of the vascular tissue. The main components consist of collagen and elastin fibres, proteoglycans, Vascular Smooth Muscle Cells (VSMCs) and ground matrix. While VSMCs play a key role in the active mechanical response of arteries, collagen and elastin determine the passive mechanics. Several experimental methods have been designed to investigate the role of these structural proteins in determining the passive mechanics of the arterial wall. Microscopy imaging of load-free or fixed samples provides useful information on the structure-function coupling of the vascular tissue, and mechanical testing provides information on the mechanical role of collagen and elastin networks. However, when these techniques are used separately, they fail to provide a full picture of the arterial micromechanics. More recently, advances in imaging techniques have allowed combining both methods, thus dynamically imaging the sample while loaded in a pseudo-physiological way, and overcoming the limitation of using either of the two methods separately. The present review aims at describing the techniques currently available to researchers for the investigation of the arterial wall micromechanics. This review also aims to elucidate the current understanding of arterial mechanics and identify some research gaps.
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ISSN:1937-3333
1941-1189
1941-1189
DOI:10.1109/RBME.2020.3005448