Year: 2014
Type: article
Abstract: Conclusion: Promising mathematical framework to model ligament at different healing stages by adaptation of the fiber distribution term, k.• Differences in the mechanical behavior of ligament with nonaligned fiber networks were predicted by only accounting for fiber distribution from imaging data. Future Work• Use specimen specific k.• Test under complex loading configurations.• Validate model for highly aligned fiber networks. Clinical Significance:Once the functional impact of fiber distribution is characterized, the efficacy of mechanostimulation can be understood and adapted to enhance ligament strength and lessen chronic disability (Fig. 6). Clinical Significance• Ligament injuries account for over 7 million hospital visits per year in the U.S 1 .• After one year of healing, injured ligament has only half the strength of native ligament 2 .• Ligament injuries can lead to chronic disability due to poor structural quality of the healed tissue 2,3 . Background• The primary load-bearing constituent of ligament is type I collagen 2 .• In native tissue, collagen fiber networks align to resist tensile deformation 4-6 .• Fiber networks are altered after injury achieving only modest realignment over time 2 (Fig. 1).Challenge: Current ligament constitutive models assume parallel collagen fibers 9-11 , and are therefore unable to characterize the functional impact of structural alterations post-injury. Hypothesis:The mechanical behavior of ligament with non-aligned fiber networks can be predicted using an anisotropic hyperelastic model that incorporates a fiber distribution term 12 .
Language: English
Subfield: Biomedical Engineering
Field: Engineering
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W232275047