Profile

The Laboratory of Head Injury and Vessel Biomechanics focuses on the response of blood vessels to large deformations. While most vessels regularly experience small deformations, large deformations alter the matrix and cells of the vessel wall. This damage changes the ability of the vessel to perform its function. Our work aims to better characterize damage-induced changes in vessel behavior and to implement these findings into models that can be used to predict injury and dysfunction. Traumatic brain injury serves as a primary motivator for our research since cerebral vessels are commonly deformed and injured during trauma, but medical procedures like balloon angioplasty also produce vessel deformation and may be refined through deeper understanding of vessel deformation and injury.