A Structural Constitutive Model for Right Ventricular Myocardium

Although right-ventricular (RV) function is an important determinant of cardio-pulmonary performance in health and disease, RV myocardium biomechanical function has received little attention. In particular, no multiaxial data of the full-thickness RV have been reported for the passive or active myocardial states, for either normal or pathological conditions. Since an understanding of tissue-level biomechanical behavior is integral to connecting cellular behavior to organ-level performance, investigations into the RV myocardial stress-strain relationship are central in providing this link. For example, ventricular wall stress is considered to be a major driver of ventricular remodeling, and thus a better understanding of how wall stress and deformation are linked would provide unique insight into the mechanisms of RV function and ultimately failure in disease. Such knowledge would have direct applicability to improving methods to detect RV dysfunction, predicting response to disease-specific therapies and improving the timing of therapy if or when needed. Here, we present the first report on the multiaxial biomechanical behavior of viable full-thickness right-ventricular free wall (RVFW) myocardium and our initial efforts in developing a structural constitutive model for this remarkable tissue.