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A Comparative Study of Machine Learning and Algorithmic Approaches to Automatically Identify the Yield Point in Normal and Aneurysmal Human Aortic Tissues
Journal article   Peer reviewed

A Comparative Study of Machine Learning and Algorithmic Approaches to Automatically Identify the Yield Point in Normal and Aneurysmal Human Aortic Tissues

Timothy Chung, Joseph Kim, Pete Gueldner, David. A. Vorp and Madhavan L. Raghavan
Journal of biomechanical engineering, Vol.146(4), 044503
04/01/2024
DOI: 10.1115/1.4064365
PMCID: PMC12097166
PMID: 38323620

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Abstract

The stress-strain curve of biological soft tissues helps characterize their mechanical behavior. The yield point on this curve is when a specimen breaches its elastic range due to irreversible microstructural damage. The yield point is easily found using the offset yield method in traditional engineering materials. However, correctly identifying the yield point in soft tissues can be subjective due to its nonlinear material behavior. The typical method for yield point identification is visual inspection, which is investigator-dependent and does not lend itself to automation of the analysis pipeline. An automated algorithm to identify the yield point objectively assesses soft tissues' biomechanical properties. This study aimed to analyze data from uniaxial extension testing on biological soft tissue specimens and create a generalizable machine learning model to determine a tissue sample's yield point. We present a trained machine learning model from 279 uniaxial extension curves from testing aneurysmal/nonaneurysmal and longitudinal/circumferential oriented tissue specimens that multiple experts labeled through an adjudication process. The ML model showed a median error of 5% in its estimated yield stress compared to the expert picks. The study found that an ML model could accurately identify the yield point (as defined) in various aortic tissues. Future studies will be performed to validate this approach by visually inspecting when damage occurs and adjusting the model using the generalized ML-based approach.

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