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Keywords: electroporation, liver tumors, colorectal carcinoma, finite element method
Published in DiRROS: 23.04.2024; Views: 233; Downloads: 72
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Abstract: Background. Numerous experiments have to be performed before a biomedical application is put to practical use in clinical environment. As a complementary work to in vitro, in vivo and medical experiments, we can use analytical and numerical models to represent, as realistically as possible, real biological phenomena of, in our case, electroporation. In this way we canevaluate different electrical parameters in advance, such as pulse amplitude, duration, number of pulses, or different electrode geometries. Suchnumerical models can contribute significantly to the understanding of an experiment and treatment planning as well as to the design of new electroporation devices and electrodes. Methods. We used commercially available modeling software, based on finite element method. We constructed a model of a subcutaneous tumor during electrochemotherapy (EMAS) and a model ofskin during gene electrotransfer (COMSOL Multiphysics). Tissue-electrode geometries, pulse parameters and currentvoltage measurements from in vivo experiments were used to develop and validate the models. Results. To describeadequately our in vivo observations, a tissue conductivity increase during electroporation was included in our numerical models. The output currents of the models were compared to the currents and the voltages measuredduring in vivo experiments and a good agreement was obtained. Also, when comparing the voltages needed for a successful electropermeabilization assuggested by the models, to voltages applied in experiments and achieving a successful electrochemotherapy or in vivo gene electrotransfer, good agreementcan be observed. Conclusions. Modeling of electric current and electric field distribution during cell and tissue electroporation proves to be helpful in describing different aspects of the process and allowing us to design electrodes and electroporation protocols as a part of treatment planning.
Keywords: electroporation, gene electrotransfer, electrochemotherapy, subcutaneous tumor, finite-element method
Published in DiRROS: 07.03.2024; Views: 331; Downloads: 75
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Abstract: A hybrid version of the strong form meshless Radial Basis Function-Finite Difference (RBF-FD) method is introduced for solving thermo-mechanics. The thermal model is spatially discretised with RBF-FD, where trial functions are polyharmonic splines augmented with polynomials. For time discretisation, the explicit Euler method is employed. An extension of RBF-FD, the hybrid RBF-FD, is introduced for solving mechanical problems. The model is one-way coupled, where temperature affects displacements. The thermo-elastoplastic material response is considered where the stress field is generally non-smooth. The hybrid RBF-FD, where the finite difference method is used to discretise the divergence operator from the balance equation, is shown to be successful when dealing with such problems. The mechanical model is introduced in a plane strain and in a generalised plane strain (GPS) assumption. For the first time, this work presents a strong form RBF-FD for GPS problems subjected to integral form constraints. The proposed method is assessed regarding h-convergence and accuracy on the benchmark with heating an elastoplastic square. It is proven to be successful at solving one-way coupled thermo-elastoplastic problems. The proposed novel meshless approach is efficient, accurate, and robust. Its use in an industrial situation is provided in Part 2 of this paper.
Keywords: thermo-mechanical modelling, von Mises small strain plasticity, hybrid radial basis function generated finite differences, polyharmonic splines
Published in DiRROS: 28.02.2024; Views: 301; Downloads: 150
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Keywords: decision making, forest management, risk, weighted influence non-linear gauge system of finite sum of influences, fuzzy best-worst method
Published in DiRROS: 05.10.2023; Views: 519; Downloads: 144
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Abstract: Finite element (FE) model updating of bridges is based on the measured modal parameters and less frequently on the measured structural response under a known load. Until recently, the FE model updating did not consider strain measurements from sensors installed for weighing vehicles with bridge weigh-in-motion (B-WIM) systems. A 50-year-old multi-span concrete highway viaduct, renovated between 2017 and 2019, was equipped with continuous monitoring system with over 200 sensors, and a B-WIM system. In the most heavily instrumented span, the maximum measured longitudinal strains induced by the full-speed calibration vehicle passages were compared with the modelled strains. Based on the sensitivity study results, three variables that affected its overall stiffness were updated: Young’s modulus adjustment factor of all structural elements, and two anchorage reduction factors that considered the interaction between the superstructure and non-structural elements. The analysis confirmed the importance of the initial manual FE model updating to correctly reflect the non-structural elements during the automatic nonlinear optimisation. It also demonstrated a successful use of pseudo-static B-WIM loading data during the model updating process and the potential to extend the proposed approach to using random B-WIM-weighed vehicles for FE model updating and long-term monitoring of structural parameters and load-dependent phenomena.
Keywords: monitoring, bridge, viaduct, bridge weigh-in-motion (B-WIM), structural health monitoring (SHM), finite element (FE), calibration, model updating
Published in DiRROS: 29.05.2023; Views: 557; Downloads: 279
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