Biomechanics of Soft Tissues: The Role of the Mathematical Model on Material Behavior

Mechanical properties of the soft tissues and an accurate mathematical model are important to reproduce the soft tissue’s material behavior (mechanical behavior) in a virtual simulation. This type of simulations by Finite Element Analysis (FEA) is required to analyze injury mechanisms, vehicle accidents, airplane ejections, blast-related events, surgical procedures simulation and to develop and test surgical implants where is mandatory take into account the high strain-rate. This work aims to highlight the role of the hyperelastic models, which can be used to simulate the highly nonlinear mechanical behavior of soft tissues. After a description of a set of formulations that can be defined as phenomenological models, a comparison between two models is discussed according to case study that represents a process of tissues clamping.