Stress-strain behavior of the passive basilar artery in normotension and hypertension

Vascular cells are very responsive to even subtle changes in their local mechanical environment, thus there is a pressing need to quantify normal states of stress and strain as well as any perturbations from these normal states. Toward this end, we must quantify constitutive behaviors for both normal and adapted (maladapted) arteries. In this note, we report the first quantification of changes in the biaxial mechanical behavior of the passive basilar artery due to hypertension. (C) 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.