Laboratorio de Pronóstico Inteligente y Sistemas Estructurales Ciber-físicos

A multi-scale constitutive model for the nonpregnant cervical tissue is presented. The mechanical response of the cervix is described by a model which takes into account material properties at different structural hierarchies of tissue through a multi-scale coupling scheme. The model introduces the deformation mechanisms of collagen fibrils at the nanoscale into a macroscopic description of the mechanical behavior of tissue continuum. The composition of soft tissues like cervical tissue consists of a distribution of cells embedded in an extracellular matrix (ECM). The microstructure of cervical ECM is composed of dense, hydrated and highly cross-linked collagen network embedded in a viscous proteoglycan ground substance. The mechanical behavior of cervix can be largely due to different constituents of its extracellular matrix, and the collagen fibers are the major responsible for its mechanical strength [M. House, 2009]. So the proposed model considers the stroma as the maximum responsible for the mechanical strength of the cervix.