MULTISCALE COMPOSITE 3D FINITE ELEMENT FOR LUNG MECHANICS

The lungs are the pair of organs where very complex internal microstructure provides gas exchange as the vital process of living organisms. This exchange in humans occurs within only 300g of tissue but on the surface of millions of alveoli with the total surface area of around 130m2. The extremely complex microstructure consists of micron-size interconnected channels and alveoli, which significantly change the size during breathing and remain open. These conditions are maintained due to existence of two mechanical systems – one external and the other internal, which act in the opposite sense, so that the lung behaves as a tensegrity system. Many computational models, with various degrees of simplifications and sophistication have been introduced. However, this task remains a challenge. We here introduce a 3D multi-scale composite FE for mechanics of lung tissue (MSCL). The model can be further used in generating computational models for mechanics for the entire lung and coupling to airflow.