Measurement of the circumferential mechanical properties of the umbilical vein: experimental and numerical analyses

Coronary artery disease is responsible for almost 30% of all deaths worldwide. The saphenous vein and umbilical vein (UV) are the most common veins using for treatment as a coronary artery bypass graft (CABG). The mechanical properties of UV belonging to its long-term patency for CABG are very important. However, there is a lack of knowledge on the linear elastic and nonlinear hyperelastic mechanical properties of the UV. In this study, three stress definitions (second Piola–Kichhoff stress, engineering stress and true stress) and four strain definitions (Almansi–Hamel strain, Green–St Venant strain, engineering strain and true strain) are used to determine the elastic modulus, maximum stress and strain of eight human UVs under circumferential loading. The nonlinear mechanical behaviour of the UV is computationally investigated using Mooney–Rivlin hyperelastic model. A numerical finite element analysis is also carried out to simulate the constitutive modelling versus its numerical results. The results show that the Almansi–Hamel strain definition overestimates the elastic modulus while Green–St Venant strain definition underestimates the elastic modulus at different stress definitions. The true stress–true strain definition, which gives more accurate measurements of the tissue's response using the instantaneous values, reveals the Young's modulus and maximum stress of 2.18 and 6.01 MPa, respectively. The Mooney–Rivlin material model is well represented by the nonlinear mechanical behaviour of the UV. The findings of this study could have implications not only for understanding the extension and rupture mechanism of UV but also for interventions and surgeries, including balloon angioplasty, bypass and stenting.