Vascular Tissue Biomechanics: Constitutive Modeling of the Arterial Wall

The artery is a dynamic organ that is able to maintain conditions for optimal mechanical operation. Arterial properties are critical to the entire cardiovascular system, and the study of their biomechanics may, among others, help understand the role of tissue stress and strain in cardiovascular diseases. The present article reviews artery wall histology and morphology in relation to its key mechanical properties. Specifically, the role of cellular and extracellular components in artery biomechanics is discussed. Then, this information is related to reported constitutive descriptions with the focus on histomechanical and passive artery wall models. Concluding remarks relate to open problems in artery biomechanics like uncertainty and variability of input information.