Graduation Semester and Year
Summer 2025
Language
English
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Science in Biomedical Engineering
Department
Bioengineering
First Advisor
Dr. Jun Liao
Second Advisor
Dr. Chung-Hao Lee
Third Advisor
Dr. Matthias Peltz
Fourth Advisor
Dr. Xiankai Sun
Abstract
Excessive epicardial adipose tissue has been increasingly linked to impaired cardiac function, yet its direct mechanical influence on left ventricular performance remains underexplored. This study employs finite element analysis (FEA) to evaluate the biomechanical effects of excessive adipose tissue on a patient-specific left ventricular model. A CT-derived geometry was processed to generate meshes with and without surrounding excessive adipose tissue. Myocardial material behavior was then simulated using a combination of orthotropic passive and active contraction models. Simulations of passive inflation and active contraction of the left ventricle were conducted to assess changes in chamber volume, pressure-volume relationships, and myocardial stress distribution. The excessive adipose tissue was found to reduce end diastolic volume, decrease ejection fraction and cardiac output, and alter ventricular wall stress distribution. Simulations also demonstrated that, in order to achieve the same end diastolic volume, an increase in pressure was needed. These findings suggest that excessive epicardial adipose tissue causes significant mechanical burden on the left ventricle during both diastolic and systolic cycles. The modeling framework developed here also provides a foundation for future computational modeling and simulations, which has the potential to assist clinicians in evaluating cardiac burden of fatty heart patients and its clinical implications.
Keywords
Fatty Heart, Finite Element Analysis, Cardiac Biomechanics, Epicardial Adipose Tissue
Disciplines
Biomedical Engineering and Bioengineering
License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-Share Alike 4.0 International License.
Recommended Citation
Wells, Brandon R., "Fatty Heart Biomechanics: Mechanical Burden of Excessive Epicardial Adipose Tissue During Diastolic Expansion and Systolic Contraction" (2025). Bioengineering Theses. 225.
https://mavmatrix.uta.edu/bioengineering_theses/225