An inverse finite element approach to modeling the rat cervical spinal cord : for use in determining the mechanical properties of the grey and white matter
department or school: Applied Science, Faculty of
department or school: Biomedical Engineering, School of
data provider: DSpace
degree campus: UBCV
creator: Sharkey, Liam Rhett
issued: 2018-02-16T19:27:57Z
issued: 2018
related degree: Master of Applied Science - MASc
degree grantor: University of British Columbia
description: There are many cellular and therapeutic treatments for traumatic spinal cord injury (tSCI) that have shown promise in animal models, however, these treatments have been unsuccessful when applied to humans. A possible reason for this discrepancy is that animal model SCIs are well-controlled, whereas human SCIs are heterogeneous in terms of population, severity and mechanism. It is known that the mechanical injury parameters play an important role in dictating the pathophysiology of SCI. However, to fully describe the mechanics of tSCI, it is necessary to understand the mechanical properties of the spinal cord. In order to investigate the mechanical properties of the rat spinal cord, I created a finite element model to simulate experimental contusion SCIs on rats based on research by Bhatnagar et al., and evaluate morphological similarity between computationally predicted and experimentally deformed spinal cords. The model was used to determine the relative stiffnesses of the grey and white matter by iteratively assigning mechanical properties to each tissue, deforming the spinal cord to match the shape of the experimentally deformed cord, and observing the morphological similarity of the predicted and experimentally deformed grey matter shapes. Using a linear elastic, homogeneous, isotropic material model for both tissues examined, I found that for six of the seven spinal cords examined, the best model agreement occurred when the white matter was modeled as 2-3 times stiffer than the grey matter, while each tissue was held at a Poisson's ratio of 0.45. Furthermore, I found that for contusion injuries inflicted upon the mediolateral center of the spinal cord, the model predicted the deformation well, while for off-center contusions, the model was unable to capture the shape of the grey matter on the side contralateral to the contusion location. I demonstrated that the spinal cord white matter appears to be stiffer than the grey matter and that current strategies of mo…
aggregated CHO: https://circle.library.ubc.ca/rest/handle/2429/64657
note: An Inverse Finite Element Approachto Modeling the Rat Cervical SpinalCordFor Use in Determining the Mechanical Properties ofthe Grey and White MatterbyLiam Rhett SharkeyB.Sc.Eng, The University of Manitoba, 2015A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OFTHE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OFMASTER OF APPLIED SCIENCEinThe Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies(Biomedical Engineering)THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA(Vancouver)February 2018c© Liam Rhett Sharkey 2018AbstractThere are many cellular and therapeutic treatments for traumatic spinal cord injury (tSCI)that have shown promise in animal models, however, these treatments have been unsuccessfulwhen applied to humans [93]. A possible reason for this discrepancy is that animal model SCIsare well-controlled, whereas human SCIs are heterogeneous in terms of population, severity andmechanism [90]. It is known that the mechanical injury parameters play an important role indictating the pathophysiology of SCI [19, 54, 85]. However, to fully describe the mechanics oftSCI, it is necessary to understand the mechanical properties of the spinal cord.In order to investigate the mechanical properties of the rat spinal cord, I created a finiteelement model to simulate experimental contusion SCIs on rats based on research by Bhatna-gar et al. [3], and evaluate morphological similarity between computationally predicted andexperimentally deformed spinal cords. The model was used to determine the relative stiffnessesof the grey and white matter by iteratively assigning mechanical properties to each tissue, de-forming the spinal cord to match the shape of the experimentally deformed cord, and observingthe morphological similarity of the predicted and experimentally deformed grey matter shapes.Using a linear elastic, homogeneous, isotropic material model for both tissues examined, I foundthat for six of the seven spinal cords examined, the best model agreement occurred when thewhite matter was modeled as 2-3× stiffer than the gr…
has type: Thesis/Dissertation
date issued: 2018-05
is shown at: 10.14288/1.0363918
language: eng
degree discipline: Biomedical Engineering
provider: Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library
publisher: University of British Columbia
rights: Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International
rights URI: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
scholar level: Graduate
type: Text
identifier URI: http://hdl.handle.net/2429/64657