In situ estimation of aortic valve interstitial cell mechanical state from tissue level measurements

Mechanical forces are known to regulate aortic valve interstitial cell (AVIC) functional state by modulating their biosynthetic activity, translating to differences in tissue composition and structure and, potentially, to aortic valve (AV) dysfunction. While advances have been made toward the understanding of AVIC behavior ex-situ, the AVIC physical state in its native tissue microenvironment remains largely unknown. We hypothesize that deriving the biomechanical state of AVICs in-situ using an inverse modeling approach will reveal more accurate information regarding AVIC adaptations to various stimuli. Such an approach can reveal important changes resulting from pathological state and corresponding pharmaceutical interventions. To achieve this, a novel, integrated numerical/experimental methodology was developed to estimate AVIC mechanobiological state in-situ.