Electromechanical computational model of the human stomach

2025-09-02

AI Summary

Mechanistic studies of gastric motility disorders (e.g., gastroparesis) are hindered by computational models that fail to simultaneously capture spatial heterogeneity, large anisotropic deformations, and computational efficiency. To address this, we propose an organ-scale electro-mechanical coupling framework for the stomach, grounded in nonlinear rotation-free shell theory. It integrates an electrophysiologically driven active strain model, constituent-specific prestress, and spatially non-uniform parameter fields, implemented via a constrained mixed-material formulation within the finite element method. For the first time at the whole-organ level, our framework concurrently reproduces physiological features including slow-wave conduction gradients, rhythmic peristaltic contractions (with amplitudes matching in vivo measurements), and synchronized motility dynamics. Its key innovation lies in overcoming computational bottlenecks of conventional 3D volumetric models, enabling high-fidelity, efficient simulation of large deformations. This provides a scalable, physiologically grounded computational platform for virtual pathophysiological modeling and mechanistic investigation of gastric motility disorders.

Technology Category

• Cognitive Modeling & Cognitive Systems: Computational Creativity
• Search and Optimization: Mixed Discrete/Continuous Search
• Planning, Routing, and Scheduling: Model-Based Reasoning

Application Category

• User Modeling, Personalization and Recommendation: User modeling and simulation for interactive and conversational systems
• Graph Algorithms and Modeling for the Web: Efficient manipulation of static and dynamic Web-related graphs
• Economics, Online Markets and Human Computation: The sharing economy

Abstract

The stomach plays a central role in digestion through coordinated muscle contractions, known as gastric peristalsis, driven by slow-wave electrophysiology. Understanding this process is critical for treating motility disorders such as gastroparesis, dyspepsia, and gastroesophageal reflux disease. Computer simulations can be a valuable tool to deepen our understanding of these disorders and help to develop new therapies. However, existing approaches often neglect spatial heterogeneity, fail to capture large anisotropic deformations, or rely on computationally expensive three-dimensional formulations. We present here a computational framework of human gastric electromechanics, that combines a nonlinear, rotation-free shell formulation with a constrained mixture material model. The formulation incorporates active-strain, constituent-specific prestress, and spatially non-uniform parameter fields. Numerical examples demonstrate that the framework can reproduce characteristic features of gastric motility, including slow-wave entrainment, conduction velocity gradients, and large peristaltic contractions with physiologically realistic amplitudes. The proposed framework enables robust electromechanical simulations of the whole stomach at the organ scale. It thus provides a promising basis for future in silico studies of both physiological function and pathological motility disorders.

Problem

• Modeling gastric electromechanics with spatial heterogeneity
• Capturing large anisotropic deformations in stomach contractions
• Enabling computationally efficient whole-organ simulations

Innovation

• Nonlinear rotation-free shell formulation
• Constrained mixture material model
• Spatially non-uniform parameter fields