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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2017 Jun 27.
Published in final edited form as: Wiley Interdiscip Rev Nanomed Nanobiotechnol. 2011 Aug 10;3(6):620–646. doi: 10.1002/wnan.158

FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 1

Changes in mechanical properties of the vascular wall as a result of pathological vascular remodeling. (a) Ex vivo stress—strain curves of porcine plaque-laden versus healthy vascular tissue. All samples were taken from the left anterior descending coronary artery in juvenile pigs, with atherosclerosis induced via standard balloon angioplasty injury. Control samples were obtained from pigs without induced injury. (Reprinted with permission from Ref 24. Copyright 2003 ASME Publications.) (b) Schematic of changes in layer-by-layer stiffness during progression of pathological vascular remodeling. Pathological changes that decrease the lumen of a remodeling artery include intimal thickening and constrictive geometric remodeling of the wall, leading to a significant increase in the stiffness of inner layer, while vessel wall rupture that is resulted from artery expansion to increase the lumen for restoration of proper blood flow leads to decreased stiffness of middle and outer layers.