Computational tools for the analysis of mechanical functionality of gastrointestinal structures

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: The gastrointestinal tract is a primary district of the living organism that shows a complex configuration in terms of biological tissues and structural conformation. The investigation of tissues mechanical functionality in healthy and degenerative conditions is mandatory to plan and design innovative diagnostic and surgical procedures. The aim of this work is to provide some tools for the mechanical analysis of gastrointestinal structures. METHODS: Computational methods allow for evaluating tissues behaviour and interaction phenomena between biomedical devices, prosthetic elements and tissues themselves. The approach envisages a strong integration of expertise from different areas, proceeding from medicine to bioengineering, computational and experimental biomechanics, bio-robotics and materials science. The development of computational models of gastrointestinal structures requires data from histological analysis and mechanical testing, together with engineering and mathematical skills for the definition of constitutive formulations and numerical procedures. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: An outline of the computational mechanics approach to the investigation of the gastrointestinal tissues and structures response is reported. A general formulation is presented together with specific applications to oesophageal and colonic tissues. Preliminary results from the numerical analysis of interaction phenomena between colonoscopy devices and tissues are also proposed to address to aspects that allow for an evaluation of feasibility and reliability of the proposed approach.