Development of in silico models to guide the experimental characterisation of penile tissue and inform surgical treatment of erectile dysfunction

Abstract

This paper presents a computational study to investigate the mechanical properties of human penile tissues. Different experimental testing regimes, namely indentation and plate-compression tests, are compared to establish the most suitable testing regime for establishing the mechanical properties of the different penile tissues. An idealised MRI-based geometry of the penis, containing different tissue layers, is simulated using the finite element (FE) method to enable realistic predictions of the deformation of the penis. Unlike the linear elastic models used in the literature to-date, hyperelastic isotropic/anisotropic material models are used to capture material nonlinearity and anisotropy. The influence of material properties, morphological variations, material nonlinearity and anisotropy are investigated. Moreover, the implantation of an inflatable penile prosthesis (IPP) is simulated to assess the effects of the implantation procedure, material nonlinearity, and anisotropy on tissue stresses. The results indicate that the interior layers of the penis do not affect the overall stiffness of the penis in the indentation test, while the plate-compression test is able to capture the effects of these layers. Tunica Albuginea (TA) is found to have the most significant contribution to the total stiffness of the penis under load. It can also be observed that buckling occurs in the septum of the penis during the compression tests, and different morphologies dictate different compressive behaviours. There is a clear need for future experimental studies on penile tissues given the lack of relevant test data in the literature. Based on this study, plate-compression testing would offer the most insightful experimental data for such tissue characterisation.