Linking microscopic spatial patterns of tissue destruction in emphysema to macroscopic decline in stiffness using a 3D computational model.

ABSTRACT: Pulmonary emphysema is a connective tissue disease characterized by the progressive destruction of alveolar walls leading to airspace enlargement and decreased elastic recoil of the lung. However, the relationship between microscopic tissue structure and decline in stiffness of the lung is not well understood. In this study, we developed a 3D computational model of lung tissue in which a pre-strained cuboidal block of tissue was represented by a tessellation of space filling polyhedra, with each polyhedral unit-cell representing an alveolus. Destruction of alveolar walls was mimicked by eliminating faces that separate two polyhedral either randomly or in a spatially correlated manner, in which the highest force bearing walls were removed at each step. Simulations were carried out to establ

SUBMITTER: Parameswaran H 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3080851 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature