Use of a genetic algorithm for determining material parameters in ventricular myocardium

The estimation of material parameters in constitutive models for soft biological materials such as myocardium is a challenging problem due to the complex behavior of the material. Here we present a systematic scheme to solve the inverse problem of estimating material parameters from experimentally observed deformation. This scheme couples a genetic algorithm with nonlinear finite element analysis. The approach is very general and can be applied to a wide range of inverse boundary value problems. Effectiveness of this scheme is demonstrated through examples involving two-dimensional and three-dimensional hyperelastic material models. Finally, a problem involving variation of material parameter through the ventricular wall is investigated.