Thoracic aortic aneurysm (TAA) is a focal enlargement of the thoracic aorta, but the etiology
of this disease is not fully understood. Previous work suggests that various genetic …

Aortic mechanical and structural characteristics have profound effects on pathophysiology,
but many aspects of physiologic stress-stretch state and intramural changes due to aging …

Disorders in the wall microstructure underlie all forms of vascular disease, such as the aortic
aneurysm, the rupture of which is necessarily triggered at the microscopic level. In this …

Arterial mechanics plays an important role in vascular pathophysiology and repair, and
advanced imaging can inform constitutive models of vascular behavior. We have measured …

In Marfan syndrome, the tunica media is disrupted, which leads to the formation of
ascending aortic aneurysms. Marfan aortic samples are histologically characterized by the …

Nano-indentation techniques might be better equipped to assess the heterogeneous
material properties of plaques than macroscopic methods but there are no bespoke …

Elastin and collagen fibers are the major load-bearing extracellular matrix (ECM)
constituents of the vascular wall. Arteries function differently than veins in the circulatory …

The contribution of glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) to the biological and mechanical functions
of biological tissue has emerged as an important area of research. GAGs provide structural …

This study investigates the inhomogeneity and anisotropy of porcine descending thoracic
aorta in three dimensions using a custom-made nano-indentation technique and a quasi …

Objective Elastogenesis within the medial layer of the aortic wall involves a cascade of
events orchestrated primarily by smooth muscle cells, including transcription of elastin and a …