Computational modelling of mechanical tests of isolated cells

The master’s thesis deals with computational modelling of mechanical testing of isolated cells, particularly of single-axle tensile test. The aim is to imitate the real deformed shape known from experiments. At first, the structure of each cell component is described and analyzed according to their significance for mechanical behavior. The outline of basic mechanical tests used for cell testing is discussed next. A structural computational model comprising all components significant for mechanical purposes is created for the modelling. Those components are nucleus, cytoplasm, cell membrane and cytoskeleton. Due to the problems with convergence the model was divided into two parts. The first one treats separately the shape of cytoskeleton and the second one treats the shape of communicating components (nucleus, cytoplasm and cell membrane). Both of those partial models succeed in reaching the deformations according to the experiments