Mechanical guidelines on the properties of human healthy arteries in the design and fabrication of vascular grafts: experimental tests and quasi-linear viscoelastic model.

Abstract

Knowledge of mechanical behavior of healthy human arteries as the guidelines to target properties of vascular grafts deserves special attention. There is a lack of mathematical model to characterize mechanical behavior of biomaterial while many mathematical models to reflect mechanics of human arteries have been proposed. The objective of this paper was set to measure mechanical properties of healthy human arteries including Common Carotid Artery (CCA), Abdominal Aorta Artery (AAA), Subclavian Artery (SA), Common Iliac Artery (CIA) and Right and Left Iliac Artery (RIA and LIA) and compare them to those of commercial ePTFE and Dacron®. Series of stress relaxation and strain to failure tests vere performed on all samples. The experimental data was utilized to develop quasi-linear viscoelastic (QLV) model of both natural and artificial arteries. ePTFE is the stiffest sample, while the CCA is the most compliant one among all. RIA and CIA are more viscous than the other natural arteries, while AA and CCA are less viscous. The proposed model demonstrated an accurate fit to the experimental results, a proof of its ability to model both nonlinear elasticity and viscoelasticity of the human arteries and commercial ones. ePTFE and Dacron® are much stiffer than human arteries that may lead to the disruption of blood hemodynamic and may not be biomechanically feasible as a replacement.