Characterization of brain tissue: Dynamic mechanical testing and viscoelastic modelling

Li, Weiqi (2022). Characterization of brain tissue: Dynamic mechanical testing and viscoelastic modelling. University of Birmingham. Ph.D.

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Abstract

Brain tissue is vulnerable and sensitive, predisposed to potential damage under various conditions of mechanical loading. The studies in this thesis aimed to investigate the viscoelastic properties of brain tissue under various loading conditions and develop viscoelastic models to capture the tissue behaviour.
The mechanical properties of brain tissue were quantified using dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) where a sinusoidally varying displacement was applied to specimens and the viscoelastic properties were obtained under different testing protocols. The regional and directional properties of brain tissue were quantitatively measured at physiological and injurious loading conditions. The compressive properties of brain tissue were studied under time and frequency domains with the same physical conditions. The theory of viscoelasticity was applied to estimate the prediction of viscoelastic response through Finite Element models. Further, the effect of large strain to mechanical behaviour of brain tissue was investigated.
This thesis found brain tissue to have showed frequency dependent-viscoelastic properties. The compressive dynamic properties of brain tissue were heterogenous for regions and affected by indenter size and indentation depth. The results demonstrate the feasibility of deriving time-domain viscoelastic parameters from frequency-dependent compressive data for biological tissue. Applications of the brain viscoelastic properties presented in this thesis include the diagnosis of brain injury and fabrication of biomaterials to replicate brain tissue.

Type of Work:

Thesis (Doctorates > Ph.D.)

Award Type:

Doctorates > Ph.D.

Supervisor(s):