Quantification of Murine Myocardial Infarct Size using 2D and 4D High Frequency Ultrasound

Background: Ischemic heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States, Canada, and worldwide. Severe disease is characterized by coronary artery occlusion, loss of blood flow to the myocardium, and necrosis of tissue, with subsequent remodeling of the heart wall, including fibrotic scarring. The current study aims to demonstrate the efficacy of quantitating infarct size via 2D echocardiographic akinetic length and 4D echocardiographic infarct volume and surface area as in vivo analysis techniques. We further describe and evaluate a new surface area strain analysis technique for estimating myocardial infarction (MI) size after ischemic injury. Methods: Experimental MI was induced in mice via left coronary artery ligation. Ejection fraction and infarct size were measured through 2D and 4D echocardiography. Infarct size established via histology was compared to ultrasound-based metrics via linear regression analysis. Results: 2D echocardiographic akinetic length (r = 0.76, p = 0.03), 4D echocardiographic infarct volume (r = 0.85, p = 0.008) and surface area (r = 0.90, p = 0.002) correlate well with histology. While both 2D and 4D echocardiography were reliable measurement techniques to assess infarct, 4D analysis is superior in assessing asymmetry of the left ventricle and the infarct. Strain analysis performed on 4D data also provides additional infarct sizing techniques, which correlate with histology (surface strain: r = 0.94, p < 0.001, transmural thickness: r = 0.76, p = 0.001). Conclusions: 2D echocardiographic akinetic length, 4D echocardiography ultrasound and strain provide effective in vivo methods for measuring fibrotic scarring after MI.

Experimental Validation of a Voxel-Based Finite Element Model Simulating Femoroplasty of Lytic Lesions in the Proximal Femur

Femoroplasty is a procedure where bone cement is injected percutaneously into a weakened proximal femur. Uncertainty exists whether femoroplasty provides sufficient mechanical strengthening to prevent fractures in patients with femoral bone metastases. Finite element models are promising tools to evaluate the mechanical effectiveness of femoroplasty, but a thorough validation is required. This study validated a voxel-based finite element model against experimental data from eight pairs of human cadaver femurs with artificial metastatic lesions. One femur from each pair was left untreated, while the contralateral femur was augmented with bone cement. Finite element models accurately predicted the femoral strength in the defect (R² = 0.96) and augmented (R² = 0.93) femurs. The modelled surface strain distributions showed a good qualitative match with results from digital image correlation; yet, quantitatively, only moderate correlation coefficients were found for the defect (mean R² = 0.78) and augmented (mean R² = 0.76) femurs. This was attributed to the presence of vessel holes in the femurs and the jagged surface representation of our voxel-based models. Despite some inaccuracies in the surface measurements, the FE models accurately predicted the global bone strength and qualitative deformation behavior, both before and after femoroplasty. Hence, they can offer a useful biomechanical tool to assist clinicians in assessing the need for prophylactic augmentation in patients with metastatic bone disease, as well as in identifying suitable patients for femoroplasty.

Full-Field Strain Determination for Additively Manufactured Parts Using Radial Basis Functions

Additively manufactured components, especially those produced in deposition welding processes, have a rough curvilinear surface. Strain and surface deformation analysis of such components is increasingly performed using digital image correlation (DIC) methods, which raises questions regarding interpretability of the results. Furthermore, in triangulation or local tangential plane based DIC strain analysis, the principal strain directions are difficult to be calculated at any point, which is due to the non-continuity of the approach. Thus, both questions will be addressed in this article. Apart from classical local strain analysis based on triangulation or local linearization concepts, the application of globally formulated radial basis functions (RBF) is investigated for the first time, with the advantage that it is possible to evaluate all interesting quantities at arbitrary points. This is performed for both interpolation and regression. Both approaches are studied at three-dimensional, curvilinear verification examples and real additively manufactured cylindrical specimens. It is found out that, if real applications are investigated, the RBF-approach based on interpolation and regression has to be considered carefully due to so-called boundary effects. This can be circumvented by only considering the region that has a certain distance to the edges of the evaluation domain. Independent of the evaluation scheme, the error of the maximum principal strains increases with increasing surface roughness, which has to be kept in mind for such applications when interpreting or evaluating the results of manufactured parts. However, the entire scheme offers interesting properties for the treatment of DIC-data.

A novel piezoelectric-actuated microgripper simultaneously integrated microassembly force, gripping force and jaw-displacement sensors: design, simulation and experimental investigation

For assembling easy-to-deform and easy-to-broken micropart, accurate acquisition of microassembly force and gripping force during microassembly process while ensuring parallel movement of jaws of microgripper is the key to ensure consistency, accuracy and reliability of microassembly without damage. In addition, simultaneously real-time detection of jaw-displacement of microgripper is also a necessary condition for rapid and accurate microassembly. This paper proposes and realizes a principle of a parallelogram compliant mechanism (PCM) based piezoelectric-actuated microgripper, which simultaneously integrates with microassembly force, gripping force and jaw-displacement sensors for the first time and ensures parallel movement of jaws under no-load and gripping micropart. The major structure of proposed microgripper is a monolithic compliant mechanism (MCM) composed of a primary lever compliant mechanism and three-stage PCM in series. Among them, the third-stage PCM is orthogonal to other two PCM in series. MCM transmits the displacement and force from piezoelectric actuator to jaws while transforming microassembly force, gripping force and jaw-displacement into surface strain of single-notch hinges of PCM with three-stage in series. On this basis, simultaneously sensing microassembly force, gripping force and jaw-displacement is realized by monitoring surface strain of single-notch hinges of three-stage PCM. The sensing equations of the microassembly force, gripping force, and jaw-displacement are established, respectively. A microgripper is manufactured, a microgripper system is realized and the integrated sensors are calibrated. The hysteresis characteristics, creep characteristics and time response are tested experimentally. Two examples of microassembly sub-process are simulated and carried out on the constructed microassembly experimental setup. The theoretical and experimental results show that the designed microgripper can simultaneously acquire the microassembly force, gripping force and jaw-displacement with high sensitivity, linearity and resolution in processes of gripping hohlraum and applying microassembly force to hohlraum while ensuring the parallel movement of the gripping jaws when gripping and not gripping micropart.

Short beam shear damage analysis of GLARE laminates based on digital image correlation and finite element analysis

The short beam shear performance of GLARE 3A-3/2 laminates with adhesive layers was investigated by combining the short beam test and the digital image correlation technique. The failure behavior was further analyzed based on finite element simulation and micro failure morphology. The results show an 8% and 58% difference in the short beam strength and bending displacement at failure of laminates along two orthogonal directions; The damage behavior of laminates is determined by the bottom unidirectional glass fiber reinforced plastic (GFRP) layers. The two typical failure modes are matrix and fiber fracture in the GFRP layer caused by local bending deformation, and interlaminar delamination between GFRP layers; The distribution of surface strain [Formula: see text] indicates the damage initiation and evolution process. The simulation result of the finite element model established in ABAQUS/Explicit shows consistency with digital image correlation analysis, which provides an effective method to predict the damage behavior of specimens with different ply structures.

Bending strain in 3D topological semi-metals

We present an experimental set-up for the controlled application of strain gradients by mechanical piezoactuation on 3D crystalline microcantilevers that were fabricated by focused ion beam machining. A simple sample design tailored for transport characterization under strain at cryogenic temperatures is proposed. The topological semi-metal Cd3As2 serves as a test bed for the method, and we report extreme strain gradients of up to 1.3% µm-1 at a surface strain value of ≈ 0.65% at 4K. Interestingly, the unchanged quantum transport of the cantilever suggests that the bending cycle does not induce defects via plastic deformation. This approach is a first step towards realizing transport phenomena based on structural gradients, such as artificial gauge fields in topological materials.

Effects Induced by Osteophytes on the Strain Distribution in the Vertebral Body Under Different Loading Configurations

The mechanical consequences of osteophytes are not completely clear. We aimed to understand whether and how the presence of an osteophyte perturbs strain distribution in the neighboring bone. The scope of this study was to evaluate the mechanical behavior induced by the osteophytes using full-field surface strain analysis in different loading configurations. Eight thoracolumbar segments, containing a vertebra with an osteophyte and an adjacent vertebra without an osteophyte (control), were harvested from six human spines. The position and size of the osteophytes were evaluated using clinical computed tomography imaging. The spine segments were biomechanically tested in the elastic regime in different loading configurations while the strains over the frontal and lateral surface of vertebral bodies were measured using digital image correlation. The strain fields in the vertebrae with and without osteophytes were compared. The correlation between osteophyte size and strain alteration was explored. The strain fields measured in the vertebrae with osteophytes were different from the control ones. In pure compression, we observed a mild trend between the size of the osteophyte and the strain distribution (R2 = 0.32, p = 0.15). A slightly stronger trend was found for bending (R2 = 0.44, p = 0.075). This study suggests that the osteophytes visibly perturb the strain field in the nearby vertebral area. However, the effect on the surrounding bone is not consistent. Indeed, in some cases the osteophyte shielded the neighboring bone, and in other cases, the osteophyte increased the strains.

Crustal velocity and interseismic strain-rate on possible zones for large earthquakes in the Garhwal–Kumaun Himalaya

The possibility of a major earthquake like 2015 Gorkha–Nepal or even greater is anticipated in the Garhwal–Kumaun region in the Central Seismic Gap of the NW Himalaya. The interseismic strain-rate from GPS derived crustal velocities show multifaceted strain-rate pattern in the region and are classified into four different strain-rate zones. Besides compressional, we identified two NE–SW orienting low strain rate (~ 20 nstrain/a) zones; namely, the Ramganga-Baijro and the Nainital-Almora, where large earthquakes can occur. These zones have surface locking widths of ~ 72 and ~ 75 km respectively from the Frontal to the Outer Lesser Himalaya, where no significant surface rupture and associated large earthquakes were observed for the last 100 years. However, strain reducing extensional deformation zone that appears sandwiched between the low strain-rate zones pose uncertainties on the occurences of large earthquakes in the locked zone. Nevertheless, such zone acts as a conduit to transfer strain from the compressional zone (> 100 nstrain/a) to the deforming frontal active fault systems. We also observed a curvilinear surface strain-rate pattern in the Chamoli cluster and explained how asymmetric crustal accommodation processes at the northwest and the southeast edges of the Almora Klippe, cause clockwise rotational couple on the upper crust moving over the MHT.