Abstract
The cell alignment in a smooth muscle tissue plays a significant role in determining its mechanical proper-ties. The off-axis cell orientation "θ” not only effects the shortening strain but also modifies the shear stress relationship significantly. Both experiments and finite element analysis were carried out on a tracheal smooth muscle strip to study how the cell alignment in smooth muscle affects the shear stiffness and shear stresses as well as deformation. A simple model for shear stiffness is derived using the data from experiments. Shear stiffness results obtained from the model indicate that the muscle shear stiff-ness values increase non-linearly with strain and with higher off-axis alignment of cells. Results of deforma-tion and shear stresses obtained from finite element analsysis indicate that the maximum shear stress values of tracheal smooth muscle tissue at 45% of strain are 2.5 times the corresponding values at 20% of strain for all three off-axis cell orientation values θ = 15?, 30? and 45?.
Highlights
Smooth muscle tissue is an important part of any vascular system and the study of its mechanical properties has applications in organs like intestines, blood vessels, digestive tract, uterus and similar organs
Shear stiffness results obtained from the model indicate that the muscle shear stiffness values increase non-linearly with strain and with higher off-axis alignment of cells
We investigate how the alignment of smooth muscle cells affects the shear stiffness of a tracheal smooth muscle strip through a simple model derived from experiments
Summary
Smooth muscle tissue is an important part of any vascular system and the study of its mechanical properties has applications in organs like intestines, blood vessels, digestive tract, uterus and similar organs. Specific architectural features of the tissue, such as the alignment of the cells along the major axis of the tissue strip, can have significant effects on the mechanical properties. Several authors [1,2,3,4] investigated the axial stiffness of smooth muscle tissue and its variations with shortening length. It has been shown that when the cells are not aligned along the major axis, the axial stiffness of the tissue is lower [5,6]. There have been no further studies in the literature reporting the shear stiffness for isolated smooth muscle tissues
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