Biomechanical Simulation of Human Chromosomes

Objective: This project aims to study the biomechanical behaviour of human chromosomes by calculating its first free vibrations modes using the finite element method (FEM) and the radial point interpolation method (RPIM). Methods: In a commercial software (FEMAP), a 3D geometric model of a human-based chromosome was constructed and a free-vibration analysis was performed with both FEM and RPIM in FEMAS academic software (cmech.webs.com). Results: The first vibration modes were obtained and the corresponding vibration frequencies. Transforming the vibration modes into fictitious deformation fields, it was possible to obtain the fictitious von Mises stress fields, allowing to understand the potential locations in which stress concentration (and potential deformation) will occur. Conclusion: Computational biomechanics applied to the healthcare is a study field in expansion, highly relevant and that will surely also extend its area of application to the chromosomes for the next years since it is a gap nowadays. Significance: The resulting frequency values for both methods were similar, which shows some significance in the study. However, in order to understand which of the two is the most reliable, a deeper study is required.