published_or_final_version / abstract / Medicine / Master / Master of Philosophy

published_or_final_version / abstract / Medicine / Master / Doctor of Medicine

published_or_final_version / abstract / Medicine / Master / Master of Philosophy

published_or_final_version / Pharmacology / Master / Master of Philosophy

published_or_final_version / Pharmacology and Pharmacy / Master / Master of Philosophy

No description available.

Numerical investigations of heat transfer in single and multiple thick-walled pipes and countercurrent pairs are used to deduce relationships between fluid and solid temperatures needed to develop more accurate thermal models of living tissue in the extremities. A structural model of heat transfer in living tissue is developed using currently available anatomical and physiological data for the extremities. In order to improve the heat transfer basis of thermal modeling under in vivo conditions, four heat transfer problems based on structures found in the extremities are solved using in vivo parameters-the thick-walled pipe and countercurrent pair, and the multiple thick-walled pipes and countercurrent pairs-are studied. Low resolution numerical models are devised to approximate the thick-walled pipe and the non-concentric thick-walled countercurrent pair in square geometries. A constant heat transfer coefficient at the fluid-solid interface adequately approximates the fluid and solid temperatures for moderate flow conditions (Peclet number of 10 < °Pe < 1000). In the thick-walled countercurrent pair, countercurrent exchange and fluid-solid thermal interaction are found to act simultaneously, giving rise to imperfect countercurrent exchange. Fluid and solid temperatures in the multiple thick-walled pipes and pairs near the outer boundary resemble those of the single thick-walled pipes and pairs. The countercurrent pairs near the center also exhibit imperfect countercurrent exchange. In cylinders with L* > 1 containing multiple countercurrent pairs, the shapes of the temperature profiles cannot be distinguished from the temperature profile shapes of cylinders containing multiple thick-walled pipes. Fluid and solid temperatures in multiple parallel pipes may be approximated with a field equation which has the same form as the Pennes' bioheat equation. Unlike Pennes' equation, the coefficients for the blood thermal energy term quantify the dependence of the amount of thermal energy transferred between blood and tissue with the geometry of the blood the flow rate through the dimensionless axial length L*, and the dimensionless axial coordinate x* . Comparisons of structural model temperatures with available in vivo temperature studies show that blood and tissue temperatures are consistent with fluid and solid temperatures of either multiple unpaired pipes or multiple countercurrent pairs embedded in a solid cylinder. Further improvements of the basis for in vivo heat transfer modeling are crucially dependent upon more extensive comparison with three-dimensional in vivo studies.

No description available.

x, 148 leaves : / Title page, contents and abstract only. The complete thesis in print form is available from the University Library. / Thesis (M.D. 1980) from the Dept. of Surgery, University of Adelaide

The mechanical environment influences vascular smooth muscle cell (VSMC) functions related to the vascular remodeling. However, the relationships are not appropriately addressed by most mechanical models of arteries assuming homogeneity. Accounting for the effects of heterogeneity is expected to be important to our understanding of VSMC functions. We hypothesized that local stresses computed using a heterogeneous mechanical model of arteries positively correlate to the levels of matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-2 and -9 in situ. We developed a mathematical model of an arterial wall accounting for nonlinearity, residual strain, anisotropy, and structural heterogeneity. The distributions of elastin and collagen fibers, quantified using their optical properties, showed significant structural heterogeneity. Anisotropy was represented by the direction of collagen fibers, which was measured by the helical angle of VSMC nuclei. The recruiting points of collagen fibers were computed assuming a uniform strain of collagen fibers under physiological loading conditions; an assumption motivated by the morphology. This was supported by observed uniform length and orientation of VSMC nuclei under physiological loading. The distributions of circumferential stresses computed using both heterogeneous and corresponding homogeneous models were correlated to the distributions of expression and activation of MMP-2 and -9 in porcine common carotid arteries, which were incubated in an ex vivo perfusion organ culture system under either normotensive or hypertensive conditions for 48 hours. While strains computed using incompressibility were identical in both models, the heterogeneous model, unlike the homogeneous model, predicted higher circumferential stresses in the outer layer. The tissue levels of MMP-2 and -9 were positively correlated to circumferential stresses computed using the heterogeneous model, which implies that areas of high stress are expected to be sites of localized remodeling and agrees with results from cell culture studies. The results support the role of mechanical stress in vascular remodeling and suggest the importance of structural heterogeneity in studying mechanobiological responses.