Biology subjects

Elliott, D. M.

Publications and source records attributed to Elliott, D. M..

7 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2023

Volume loss and recovery in bovine knee meniscus loaded in circumferential tension

Load-induced volume change is an important aspect of knee meniscus function because volume loss creates fluid pressure, which minimizes friction and helps support compressive loads. The knee meniscus is unusual amongst cartilaginous tissues in that it is loaded not only in axial compression, but also in circumferential tension between its tibial attachments. Despite the physiologic importance of the knee meniscus tensile properties, its volumetric strain in tension has never been directly measured, and predictions of volume strain in the scientific literature are inconsistent. In this study, we apply uniaxial tension to bovine knee meniscus and use biplanar imaging to directly observe the resulting 3D volume change and unloaded recovery, revealing that tension causes volumetric contraction. Compression is already known to also cause contraction; therefore, all major physiologic loads compress and pressurize the meniscus, inducing fluid outflow. Although passive unloaded recovery is often described as slow relative to loaded loss, here we show that at physiologic strains the volume recovery rate in the meniscus upon unloading is faster than the rate of volume loss. These measurements of volumetric strain are an important step towards a complete theory of knee meniscus fluid flow and load support.

bioengineering↗

bioRxiv2020

Identifiability of Tissue Material Parameters from Uniaxial Tests using Multi-start Optimization

Determining tissue biomechanical material properties from mechanical test data is frequently required in a variety of applications, e.g. tissue engineering. However, the validity of the resulting constitutive model parameters is the subject of debate in the field. Common methods to perform fitting, such as nonlinear least-squares, are known to be subject to several limitations, most notably the uniqueness of the fitting results. Parameter optimization in tissue mechanics often comes down to the "identifiability" or "uniqueness" of constitutive model parameters; however, despite advances in formulating complex constitutive relations and many classic and creative curve-fitting approaches, there is no accessible framework to study the identifiability of tissue material parameters. Our objective was to assess the identifiability of material parameters for established constitutive models of fiber-reinforced soft tissues, biomaterials, and tissue-engineered constructs. To do so, we generated synthetic experimental data by simulating uniaxial tension and compression tests, commonly used in biomechanics. We considered tendon and sclera as example tissues, using constitutive models that describe these fiber-reinforced tissues. We demonstrated that not all of the model parameters of these constitutive models were identifiable from uniaxial mechanical tests, despite achieving virtually identical fits to the stress-stretch response. We further show that when the lateral strain was considered as an additional fitting criterion, more parameters are identifiable, but some remain unidentified. This work provides a practical approach for addressing parameter identifiability in tissue mechanics. Statement of SignificanceData fitting is a powerful technique commonly used to extract tissue material parameters from experimental data, and which thus has applications in tissue biomechanics and engineering. However, the problem of "uniqueness" or "identifiability" of the fit parameters is a significant issue, limiting the fit results validity. Here we provide a novel method to evaluate data fitting and assess the uniqueness of results in the tissue mechanics constitutive models. Our results indicate that the uniaxial stress-stretch experimental data are not adequate to identify all the tissue material parameters. This study is of potential interest to a wide range of readers because of its application for the characterization of other engineering materials, while addressing the problem of uniqueness of the fitted results.

bioengineering↗

bioRxiv2019

3D Microstructure of Tendon Collagen Fibrils using Serial Block-Face SEM and a Mechanical Model for Load Transfer

Tendons hierarchical structure allows for load transfer between its fibrillar elements at multiple length scales. Tendon microstructure is particularly important, because it includes the cells and their surrounding collagen fibrils, where mechanical interactions can have potentially important physiological and pathological contributions. However, the three-dimensional microstructure and the mechanisms of load transfer in that length scale are not known. It has been postulated that interfibrillar matrix shear or direct load transfer via the fusion/branching of small fibrils are responsible for load transfer, but the significance of these mechanisms is still unclear. Alternatively, the helical fibrils that occur at the microstructural scale in tendon may also mediate load transfer, however, these structures are not well studied due to the lack of a three-dimensional visualization of tendon microstructure. In this study, we used serial block-face scanning electron microscopy (SBF-SEM) to investigate the threedimensional microstructure of fibrils in rat tail tendon. We found that tendon fibrils have a complex architecture with many helically wrapped fibrils. We studied the mechanical implications of these helical structures using finite element modeling and found that frictional contact between helical fibrils can induce load transfer even in the absence of matrix bonding or fibril fusion/branching. This study is significant in that it provides a three-dimensional view of the tendon microstructure and suggests friction between helically wrapped fibrils as a mechanism for load transfer, which is an important aspect of tendon biomechanics.

bioengineering↗

bioRxiv2018

Comparative Multi-scale Hierarchical Structure of the Tail, Plantaris, and Achilles Tendons in the Rat

Rodent tendons are widely used to study human pathology, such as tendinopathy and repair, and to address fundamental physiological questions about development, growth, and remodeling. However, how the gross morphology and the multi-scale hierarchical structure of rat tendons, such as the tail, plantaris, and Achillles tendons, compare to that of human tendons are unknown. In addition, there remains disagreement about terminology and definitions. Specifically, the definition of fascicle and fiber are often dependent on the diameter size and not their characteristic features, which impairs the ability to compare across species where the size of the fiber and fascicle might change with animal size and tendon function. Thus, the objective of the study was to select a single species that is widely used for tendon research (rat) and tendons with varying mechanical functions (tail, plantaris, Achilles) to evaluate the hierarchical structure at multiple length scales. This study was designed including, histology, SEM, and confocal imaging. We confirmed that rat tendons do not contain fascicles, and thus the fiber is the largest tendon subunit in the rat. In addition, we provided a structurally-based definition of a fiber as a bundle of collagen fibrils that is surrounded by elongated cells, and this definition was supported by both histologically processed and unprocessed tendons. In all rat tendons studied, the fiber diameters were consistently 10-50 {micro}m, and this diameter appears to be conserved across larger species. Specific recommendations were made for the strengths and limitations of each rat tendon as tendon research models. Understanding the hierarchical structure of tendon can advance the design and interpretation of experiments and development of tissue engineered constructs.

bioengineering↗

bioRxiv2018

Evaluating Plastic Deformation and Damage as Potential Mechanisms for Tendon Inelasticity using a Reactive Modeling Framework

Inelastic behaviors, such as softening, a progressive decrease in modulus before failure, occur in tendon andare important aspect in degeneration and tendinopathy. These in elastic behaviors are generally attributed to two potential mechanisms: plastic deformation and damage. However, it is not clear which is primarily responsible.In this study, we evaluated these potential mechanisms of tendon in elasticity by using a recently developed reactive in elasticity model (RIE), which is a structurally-inspired continuum mechanics frame work that models tissue in elasticity based on the molecular bond kinetics. Using RIE, we formulated two material models, one specific toplastic deformation and the other to damage. The models were independently fit to published experimental tensiletests of rat tail tendons. We quantified the inelastic effects and compared the performance of the two models infitting the mechanical response during loading, relaxation, unloading, and reloading phases. Additionally, we validated the models by using the resulting fit parameters to predict an independent set of experimental stress-straincurves from ramp-to-failure tests. Overall, the models were both successful in fitting the experiments and predicting the validation data. However, the results did not strongly favor one mechanism over the other. As a result, to distinguish between plastic deformation and damage, different experimental protocols will be needed. Nevertheless, these findings suggest the potential of RIE as a comprehensive framework for studying tendon inelastic behaviors.

bioengineering↗

bioRxiv2018

Short cracks in knee meniscus tissue cause strain concentrations, but not weakness, in single-cycle uniaxial tension

Tears are central to knee meniscus pathology and, from a mechanical perspective, are crack-like defects (cracks). In many materials, cracks create stress concentrations that cause progressive local rupture and reduce effective strength. It is currently un-known if cracks in meniscus have these consequences; if they do, this would have repercussions for management of meniscus pathology. The objective of this study was to determine if a short crack in meniscus tissue, which mimics a preclinical meniscus tear, (a) causes crack growth and reduces effective strength, (b) creates a near-tip strain concentration, and (c) creates unloaded regions on either side of the crack. Specimens with and without cracks were tested in uniaxial tension and compared in terms of macroscopic stress-strain curves and digital image correlation strain fields. The strain fields were used as an indicator of stress concentrations and unloaded regions. Effective strength was found to be insensitive to the presence of a crack (potential effect < 0.86 s.d.; {beta} = 0.2), but significant strain concentrations, which have the potential to lead to long-term accumulation of tissue or cell damage, were observed near the crack tip.

bioengineering↗

bioRxiv2018

A Reactive Inelasticity Theoretical Framework for modeling Viscoelasticity, Plastic Deformation, and damage in Soft Tissue

Soft tissues are biopolymeric materials, primarily made of collagen and water. These tissues have non-linear, anisotropic, and inelastic mechanical behaviors that are often categorized into viscoelastic behavior, plastic deformation, and damage. While tissues elastic and viscoelastic mechanical properties have been measured for decades, there is no comprehensive theoretical framework for modeling inelastic behaviors of these tissues that is based on their structure. To model the three major inelastic mechanical behaviors of soft tissue we formulated a structurally inspired continuum mechanics framework based on the energy of molecular bonds that break and reform in response to external loading (reactive bonds). In this framework, we employed the theory of internal state variables and kinetics of molecular bonds. The number fraction of bonds, their reference deformation gradient, and damage parameter were used as internal state variables that allowed for consistent modeling of all three of the inelastic behaviors of tissue by using the same sets of constitutive relations. Several numerical examples are provided that address practical problems in tissue mechanics, including the difference between plastic deformation and damage. This model can be used to identify relationships between tissues mechanical response to external loading and its biopolymeric structure.

bioengineering↗