A probabilistic and anisotropic failure metric for ascending thoracic aortic aneurysm risk assessment

To noninvasively assess the risk of aneurysm rupture and dissection, an accurate material failure metric of the aortic wall is crucial. Previous studies used deterministic or isotropic failure metrics for the aortic wall. However, experimental studies have shown that aortic wall tensile strengths in circumferential and axial directions are significantly different (i.e., anisotropic) and vary greatly among patients. In this study, we developed a...