TableOfContents

Target Outcome

Material behavior for all primary and secondary tissues necessary for required representative constitutive models.

Prerequisites

Infrastructure

For more details see ["Infrastructure/ExperimentationMechanics"].

Previous Protocols

For more details see ["Specifications/Specimens"].

For more details see ["Specifications/SpecimenPreparation"].

For more details see ["Specifications/ExperimentationAnatomicalImaging"]

For more details see ["Specifications/ExperimentationJointMechanics"]

Tissue types

Primary tissues

Cartilage

1. Medial femoral condyle

2. Lateral femoral condyle

3. Medial tibial plateau

4. Lateral tibial plateau

5. Patellar groove / femoral groove

6. Patella

Meniscus

1. Medial meniscus

2. Lateral meniscus

Ligaments

1. Anterior collateral ligament

2. Posterior collateral ligament

3. Lateral collateral ligament

4. Medial collateral ligament

5. Patellar ligament

Tendon

1. Quadriceps tendon

-- ["aerdemir"] DateTime(2014-09-23T12:08:01Z) What does patellar groove / femoral groove mean? Is the cartilage sample from femur?

Secondary tissues

  1. Capsule

-- ["aerdemir"] DateTime(2014-09-23T12:08:01Z) Any other tissue?

Protocols

Ligaments

Experiment Conditions

Multi-step tensile stress-relaxation test supported by video data to characterize viscoelastic behaviour of the samples.

Measurements

-- ["aerdemir"] DateTime(2014-09-23T12:23:59Z) We may need to blend test settings and operating procedures together to have a coherent sequence of actions

Ligaments

Experiment Conditions

Multi-step tensile stress-relaxation test supported by video data to characterize viscoelastic behaviour of the samples.

Measurements

-- ["aerdemir"] DateTime(2014-09-23T12:23:59Z) We may need to blend test settings and operating procedures together to have a coherent sequence of actions

Operating Procedures

Sample preparation

* Once the ligaments are separated for tissue testing sample preparation, the thicker ligaments (ACL, PCL, MCL and LCL) will be thinned for tensile testing. This is done using a cryostat (Available at Histochemistry Core at Biomedical Engineering, CCF). * The ligaments will be thinned to be under 1 mm. * Once the thin segments are obtained, using a dummbell shaped punch, tensile testing samples will be prepared. * The punch is 10 mm by 2 mm between the flared sections used for clamping the tissue. * MCL is thin enough to be punched without any further thinning. * Samples will be taken from the mid-substance region of the ligaments and along the long axis of the fibers.

==== Thickness measurement ====

* Once the samples are punched out, the thickness of the samples will be measured both optically and using a constant-pressure (~0.001 MPa) linear variable displacement transducer (LVDT) probe system available in ND –.

==== Width measurement ==== * Width of the sample can be measured optically (using camera) once the sample is placed in the testing setup.

" Note: " The dimensions will be recorded in a separate text file in the sample specific folder.

==== Preparation ====

* The punched sample will be placed in serrated metal clamps for mounting in the tissue testing machine. * Sand paper and tissue adhesive will be used along with the metal clamps to prevent the test samples from slipping during the mechanical tests. * Markers (india ink) will placed on the sample for video strain measurement. The ink can be found in testing accessories drawer. * The load cell of the mechanical testing system will be calibrated before each test. * Specimens will be kept immersed in a PBS bath and tested at room temperature. * Tests will be conducted on MA056-V500c material testing machine (Biomomentum Inc, Laval, Québec, Canada).

Determination of reference length

* For tensile tests the 'find contact' step is performed first to obtain the initial length of the sample. * Place the complementary puzzle pieces of the clamp in machine and aligh the clamp heads (not overlapping or touching , align then side by side). * Set displacement to zero. * Set force to zero * Place sample in the testing system. . * Preload to 10 gf at a loading rate of 0.05 mm/s * Wait: 10 min. * Record displacement as reference length. * Unload

Testing

* A ruler will be placed in the testing chamber to aid optical strain measurement. * Stress relaxation tests will be conducted on each sample. * The protocols with entire sequences are programmed in the system and can be repeated with adjustments based on sample dimensions. * The force/displacement data will be acquired at 100 Hz and the video data is acquired at 10Hz . Recommended: before running any test with longer hold times, the test should be run once with 2-3 sec hold time to ensure the procedure is working as expected.

" Note:" * Make sure for each step of the test sequences the location of file is appropriately selected. * It is recommended that once the test is complete, the acquired data is reviewed using the Mach1 Analysis software. The test should be repeated if necessary. * Once the test is complete the sample will be carefully removed from the system, wrapped in saline soaked paper towel, placed in an appropriately named ziplock bag, and stored in the freezer * The collected data will be immediately transferred to Midas.

-- ["aerdemir"] DateTime(2014-09-23T12:23:59Z) Let's get the description of ligament procedure cleaned up. In following, we will work on the rest of the document using ligament procedure as an example.

-- ["aerdemir"] DateTime(2014-09-23T12:23:59Z) Let's get the description of ligament procedure cleaned up. In following, we will work on the rest of the document using ligament procedure as an example.

Cartilage

Conditions

Measurements

Operating Procedure

Note: A typical test day for all three tests from one cartilage location would include testing sample in unconfined compression, then testing a tensile sample followed by retesting the compression sample under confined compression.

Menisci

Conditions

Measurements

Operating Procedure

Tendons

Conditions

Measurements

Operating Procedure

Capsule

Conditions

Measurements

Operating Procedure

References

1. Seitz, Andreas Martin, Fabio Galbusera, Carina Krais, Anita Ignatius, and Lutz Dürselen. “Stress-relaxation Response of Human Menisci Under Confined Compression Conditions.” Journal of the Mechanical Behavior of Biomedical Materials 26 (October 2013): 68–80. doi:10.1016/j.jmbbm.2013.05.027. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S175161611300204X

2. Korhonen RK1, Laasanen MS, Töyräs J, Rieppo J, Hirvonen J, Helminen HJ, Jurvelin JS. "Comparison of the equilibrium response of articular cartilage in unconfined compression, confined compression and indentation." Journal of Biomechanics 2002 Jul;35(7):903-9. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12052392


Note The information from this point onward will be moved to Discussion page.

Data acquisition by Elvis Danso

Note:

Pilot tissue mechanical tests

attachment:sample-list.xls

Sample 1

Sample: Cylindrical compression sample

Tissue: Cartilage

Location: Lateral tibial plateau

Dimensions (measured using LVDT): Thickness = 2.47 mm, Diameter= 5 mm.

Test: Unconfined compression

Data:

attachment:data.txt

Note: Pre-stress value is determined from 1. finding load when the load cell starts accumulating load (as close to zero as possible and as allowed by the load cell resolution) 2.and the area of cross section. For this sample the diameter was measured using a ruler (thickness measurement system is currently not calibrated for >3 mm, need gauges). This prestress value will be used for all the test samples for cartilage compression tests.

Sample 2

Sample: Dumbbell tensile sample

Tissue: Cartilage

Location: Lateral Femoral Condyle

Dimensions (measured using LVDT): Thickness = mm, Length= mm, width = mm

Test: Uniaxial tensile test

Data:

Sample 3

Sample: Dumbbell tensile sample

Tissue: MCL

Location: Mid-substance

Dimensions (measured using LVDT): Thickness = mm, Length= mm, width = mm

Test: Uniaxial tensile test

Data: