Multiphysics Modeling of Injury Pathways and Electrical Signaling Underlying Traumatic Brain Injury

Dr. Rudraraju, Shiva

Assistant Professor
Department of Mechanical Engineering
University of Wisconsin-Madison

Seminar Information

Seminar Series

Biomechanics & Medical Devices

Seminar Date - Time

April 19, 2024, 9:00 am

-

10 AM

Seminar Location

EBU II 479, Von Karman-Penner Seminar Room

Abstract

Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) is a pathophysiological condition caused due to concussion, impact or blast loading of the brain. In TBI, severe and/or repeated mechanical insults propagate through the brain tissue, resulting in the loss of neuronal function and associated morphological and physiological abnormalities. To investigate the initiation and evolution of neuronal-scale injury, we model the underlying mechano-chemical pathways and electrical signaling physics using a novel spatio-temporal numerical representation of neuronal deformation and action potential propagation. The neuron microstructure is modeled mechanically as a continuum viscoelastic network, chemically as a reaction-diffusion ensemble of pro-inflammatory biomarkers, and electrically as a diffusive media for ionic transport. We will discuss: (1) mechanical and chemical metrics underlying neuronal response under varying loads and loading rates, and (2) saltatory conduction of action potentials, including the effects of myelin sheath and the peri-axonal space. The goal of this framework is to estimate injury curves (strain and strain rate bounds on brain loading) that characterize tolerable loading conditions to avoid the onset of TBI. This work is supported by ONR under the PANTHER TBI program.

Speaker Bio

Shiva Rudraraju is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He heads the Computational Mechanics and Multiphysics Group at UW-Madison, and his research interests are broadly in computational modeling of mechanics and multiphysics driven morphological processes in structural and biological materials. His research is supported by ONR, ARO and NSF. He received his PhD in Mechanical Engineering and Scientific Computing from the University of Michigan Ann Arbor and undergraduate degree from IIT Dhanbad, India.