Modeling and Simulation of Fibrin Fibers

Principal Investigator: Ming Lin 
Funding Agency: National Science Foundation 
Agency Number: CCF-0404088

Abstract
Fibrin fibers are the major structural component of blood clots, determining the mechanical properties of these fibers will provide new insights into the wound healing process and will advance our understanding of heart attacks and strokes. There has been much interests in determining the response of fibrin clots to mechanical stresses. Most of investigation in the past has mainly focused on the {hem bulk) mechanical properties of whole fibrin clots. The underlying theme of the proposed research is design of novel computational models, simulation methods and software systems based on the “multi-scale” framework, i.e. describing geometry, numerics, and physical simulation across different scales, for better understanding of mechanical properties of individual fibrin fibers. With the extremely complexity of molecular structures at the nanoscale, this approach could potentially offer a robust and efficient solution that scales up to large size problems and perhaps adequately models the mutual interaction among multiple nano entities in complex physical or biological systems. It will allow the scientists to rapidly validate their hypothesis or explore new options on various experiments. To ensure the correctness of our proposed models and simulation methods, we will test and validate our approaches on experimental data gathered from nanomanipulation of fibrin fibers. They will also provide timely feedback to our work and allow rapid modification of our approach and simulation methods.

INTELLECTUAL MERIT: This research is expected to lay the scientific foundation for human centric, simulation-based nanomanipulation. We will address key issues in the realization of modeling and simulation techniques for better understanding of fibrin fibers. These include new computational models for modeling the behavior of individual fibers and novel multi-scale simulation methods for capturing their mutual interaction. In addition to modeling fibrin fibers, the new simulation methods, algorithms and software system could also offer fundamental advances for modeling and simulation of other biological structures, including actin/microtubule filaments, cilia, etc. The PI has led research on contact processing and physically-based modeling; also released several public domain libraries that are widely used and have been incorporated into commercial products. The co-PIs have led research on research on nanomanipulation. However, their previous work do not address the specific issues related to modeling and simulation of biological systems, such as fibrin fibers. The proposed project focuses on developing multi-scale modeling and simulation methods for fibrin fibers and benefits from the PIs' prior research on nanomanipulation and experiences on physically-based modeling.

BROADER IMPACTS: The proposed research could lead to a wide application of physical simulation for nanomanipulation and have the potential of making a significant impact on the following: - Better Understanding of Fibrin Fibers - Model Verification and Experiment Planning - Education & Outreach