AJP - Heart and Circulatory Physiology, Vol 273, Issue 3 1587-H1594, Copyright © 1997 by American Physiological Society
Finite-element simulation of blood perfusion in muscle tissue during compression and sustained contraction
W. J. Vankan, J. M. Huyghe, D. W. Slaaf, C. C. van Donkelaar, M. R. Drost, J. D. Janssen and A. Huson
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Eindhoven University of Technology, The Netherlands.
Mechanical interaction between tissue stress and blood perfusion in
skeletal muscles plays an important role in blood flow impediment during
sustained contraction. The exact mechanism of this interaction is not
clear, and experimental investigation of this mechanism is difficult. We
developed a finite-element model of the mechanical behavior of
blood-perfused muscle tissue, which accounts for mechanical blood-tissue
interaction in maximally vasodilated vasculature. Verification of the model
was performed by comparing finite-element results of blood pressure and
flow with experimental measurements in a muscle that is subject to
well-controlled mechanical loading conditions. In addition, we performed
simulations of blood perfusion during tetanic, isometric contraction and
maximal vasodilation in a simplified, two-dimensional finite-element model
of a rat calf muscle. A vascular waterfall in the venous compartment was
identified as the main cause for blood flow impediment both in the
experiment and in the finite-element simulations. The validated
finite-element model offers possibilities for detailed analysis of blood
perfusion in three-dimensional muscle models under complicated loading
conditions.
