Biomechanics of Blood Vessels: Structure, Mechanics, and Adaptation

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AbstractBasics and recent advances in blood vessel wall biomechanics are overviewed. The structure of blood vessel walls is first introduced with special reference to heterogeneity in the mechanical properties of artery walls at a microscopic level. Then basic characteristics of the mechanical properties of blood vessel walls are explained from the viewpoints of mechanical parameters used in clinical investigations, elastic and viscoelastic analysis, and effects of smooth muscle contraction. As examples of mechanical analysis of blood vessel walls, stress and strain analyses of artery walls as thin- and thick-walled cylinders, analyses considering residual stress and microscopic heterogeneity, are introduced. One of the most important topics in the blood vessel mechanics, mechanical responses and adaptations of blood vessel walls, is then discussed from the viewpoints of long- and short-term responses of artery walls to increases in blood pressure or flow. And finally, the importance of studying microscopic mechanical environment to elucidate these mechanical adaptations is pointed out.KeywordsArteryVeinBiomechanicsSmooth muscleEndotheliumElastinCollagenIntimaMediaAdventitia