Modeling cardiac mechanics on a microscale: Mechanical modeling and analysis of cardiomyocytes and cardiac micromuscles

The thesis focuses on investigating cardiac mechanics on a microscale. We consider mechanical processes applicable when zooming in from the heart to a scale where the individualcells are visible – and not so much zoomed in that we go inside a single cell. The first part focuses on the development of a new computational mechanical model for cardiac tissue. We here consider cardiomyocytes surrounded by an extracellular matrix. Mechanical single-cell models exist – but none take into account the extracellular matrix nor the interaction between multiple cells. In our work, we extend the scope from single to over 100 cells. We also show that matrix stiffness has a massive impact on cardiac stresses under contraction, which might further be used to understand how small changes to the matrix induced by diseases affect the overall cardiac function. The last part is performed in collaboration with experimentalists and demonstrates how image analysis and computational models can be used to assess the mechanics of cardiac microtissues developed in microphysiological systems. Microphysiological systems might, in particular, be used in drug development studies. The metrics utilized in our papers might be helpful for assessing changes in cardiac contractility for these purpose