A hyperelastic constitutive law, for use in anatomically accurate finite element models ofliving structures, is suggested for the passive and the active mechanical properties of incompressiblebiological tissues. This law considers the passive and active states as a same hyperelastic continuummedium, and uses an activation function in order to describe the whole contraction phase.The variational and the FE formulations are also presented, and the FE code has been validatedand applied to describe the biomechanical behavior of a thick-walled anisotropic cylinder underdifferent active loading conditions.
