Goal Function Approach to Growth and Remodeling of Arteries

In this thesis we develop a new goal function approach to investigate stability of the growth processes in blood vessels and cost-optimal composition and geometry of these vessels. In the vascular system of a healthy individual, the living composition of the arterial wall must regenerate and remodel continuously during the entire lifetime to maintain itself. In some cases the system destabilizes due to disease, injury or other complex processes. To understand how and when this happens, several mathematical models have been developed. These models have included an evolution equation for mass fractions of the vessel wall, describing how the vessel develops from an actual state to a target state. These works are based on constrained mixture theory (CMT), which takes care of production and removal of arterial constituents. The cost-optimal design of blood vessels has been studied previously by Murray. The aim of this thesis is to contribute to stability analyses of the growth process by formulating a new goal function approach, making it possible to examine under which conditions instability arises. We also aim to analyze changes in the optimum material composition and geometry of the vessel wall, using a more realistic, nonlinear material model. The blood vessel is modeled as a thin-walled tube and the constituents that form the vessel wall are assumed to deform together (CMT). The growth dynamics of the composite material of the vessel wall is described by an evolution equation, where the effective area of each constituent changes in the direction of steepest descent of a goal function. This goal function is formulated in such way that the constituents grow toward a target potential energy and a target composition. The response of the evolution equation is simulated for several different material models. These simulations suggest that elastin-deficient vessels are more prone to growth instability, but that increased vessel stiffness gives a more stable growth process. Another important finding is that an increased rate of degradation of materials impairs growth stability. By extending Murray’s law to include effects of nonlinear mechanics of the artery wall and a growth and remodeling mechanism based on CMT, and at the same time having the system satisfy an equilibrium equation, we study cost-optimal compositions and geometries of the vessel wall. This gives new insight into the wall’s architecture under optimal conditions.