Researchers in the Cardiac Biomechanics Laboratory at the University of Denver study the mechanical properties of heart tissue to better understand cardiovascular physiology and disease.
In this interview, Shahnaz Javani from the lab of Prof. Ali Azadani describes how biaxial mechanical testing is used to quantify regional differences in cardiac muscle stiffness. Square specimens excised from different anatomical regions of ovine hearts are subjected to equibiaxial stretch under physiological conditions, with stress–strain data fitted to Fung-type constitutive models and incorporated into finite element simulations.
This work demonstrates how biaxial testing supports constitutive modeling and regional characterization of soft biological tissues.
