Model Validation and Uncertainty Quantification in Biomechanics

Sources and Methods of Uncertainty and Variability Analysis - Volume 2
Erscheinungsjahr 2026
ISBN: 978-0-443-58169-4
Verlag: Elsevier Science

Buch, Englisch, 580 Seiten, Format (B × H): 191 mm x 235 mm

Model Validation and Uncertainty Quantification in Biomechanics: Sources and Methods of Uncertainty and Variability Analysis addresses the increasing need to incorporate uncertainty and variability into computational biomechanics. As biomechanical modeling becomes more central to clinical decision-making, deterministic approaches are no longer sufficient to describe biological complexity. This reference provides a systematic treatment of uncertainty quantification, enabling more reliable, patient-specific models in cardiovascular and soft tissue applications. The volume is structured into four main sections. It begins with probabilistic fundamentals and sensitivity analysis, establishing core principles for uncertainty-aware modeling. It then explores sources of uncertainty, including vascular modeling, imaging reconstruction, MRI, ultrasound elastography, and biological variability such as sex differences. The third section focuses on computational methods such as multi-fidelity modeling and Bayesian parameter identification. The final section presents practical applications in vascular systems, cardiac mechanics, and diagnostic techniques, emphasizing clinically relevant case studies.

Model Validation and Uncertainty Quantification in Biomechanics: Sources and Methods of Uncertainty and Variability Analysis provides researchers and engineers with rigorous tools to assess model reliability and variability. By combining foundational theory with applied methodologies, it supports the development of robust, predictive biomechanical simulations, advancing translational research and precision medicine in healthcare engineering.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Holzapfel, Gerhard A.

Rolf, Malte

Fachgebiete

• Technische Wissenschaften Verfahrenstechnik | Chemieingenieurwesen | Biotechnologie Biotechnologie
• Medizin | Veterinärmedizin Medizin | Public Health | Pharmazie | Zahnmedizin Medizin, Gesundheitswesen Medizintechnik, Biomedizintechnik, Medizinische Werkstoffe
• Technische Wissenschaften Sonstige Technologien | Angewandte Technik Medizintechnik, Biomedizintechnik

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Part I. Basics and fundamentals
1. Uncertainty quantification in biomechanics: probabilistic fundamentals
2. Sensitivity analysis in biomechanics: addressing model complexity and uncertainty

Part II. Sources of uncertainty and variability
3. Vascular models and related uncertainties in computational medicine: Tools for capturing patient specificity and variability
4. Methods for assessing uncertainties of image reconstruction procedures and their propagation in in silico analyses
5. 4D-flow MRI error analysis
6. Uncertainties in ultrasound elastography from a continuum mechanics perspective
7. Biological sex as a missing variable in biomechanical models

Part III. Methods for uncertainty quantification
8. A primer on uncertainty quantification for cardiovascular simulations
9. An introduction to multi-fidelity uncertainty propagation in biomechanics
10. Identification of model parameter distributions via multilevel Bayesian approaches

Part IV. Applications in biomechanical modeling
11. Geometric modeling and uncertainties of the vascular system
12. Hemodynamics in type B aortic dissection with focus on sensitivity and dimensional analysis
13. Uncertainty quantification in patient-specific models of left ventricular mechanics models
14. Uncertainty quantification for impedance plethysmography with gradient boosting tree regression

Über Autor(innen)

Rolf, Malte
Malte Rolf is a postdoctoral researcher at the Institute of Biomechanics at Graz University of Technology, in Austria. His research focuses primarily on material and computational modeling of aortic dissections, ranging from multi-scale material modeling to patient-specific fluid-structure interaction modeling. In addition to his primary research focus, M. Rolf-Pissarczyk actively participates in studies on standardized best practices for the application of in silicovalidation methods and the credibility assessment of in silico methods based on ASME verification and validation standards.

Holzapfel, Gerhard A.
Gerhard A. Holzapfel is Professor of Biomechanics and Head of the Institute of Biomechanics at Graz University of Technology (TUG), Austria, since 2007. He is also Adjunct Professor at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Trondheim, Norway, and Visiting Professor at the University of Glasgow, Scotland. Until 2013 he was Professor of Biomechanics at the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH) in Stockholm, Sweden, for 9 years (7 years as an Adjunct Professor). After his PhD in Mechanical Engineering in Graz he received an Erwin-Schrödinger Scholarship for foreign countries to be a Visiting Scholar at Stanford University (1993-95). He achieved his Habilitation at TU Vienna in 1996 and received a START-Award in 1997, which is the most prestigious research award in Austria for young scientists. In the following years (1998-2004) he was the Head of a research group on "Computational Biomechanics" at TUG. Among several awards and honors in the past years he is listed in "The World's Most Influential Scientific Minds: 2014" (Thomas Reuters), he received the Erwin Schrödinger Prize 2011 from the Austrian Academy of Sciences for his lifetime achievements, and he was awarded the 2021 William Prager Medal and the 2021 Warner T. Koiter Medal. Professor Holzapfel’s research includes experimental and computational biomechanics and mechanobiology with an emphasis on soft biological tissues, the cardiovascular system including blood vessels in health and disease, aortic dissections, therapeutic interventions such as balloon angioplasty and stent implantation, second-harmonic imaging microscopy and medical image processing; nonlinear continuum mechanics, constitutive (multi-scale) modeling of solids at finite strains such as cross-linked actin networks, growth and remodeling, nonlinear finite element methods, fracture and material failure. Professor Holzapfel has authored a graduate textbook entitled "Nonlinear Solid Mechanics. A Continuum Approach for Engineering" (John Wiley & Sons), and co-edited seven books. He contributed chapters to 25+ other books, and published 250+ peer-reviewed journal articles. He is the co-founder and co-editor of the International Journal "Biomechanics and Modeling in Mechanobiology" (Springer-Verlag, Berlin, Heidelberg).