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Nonlinear viscoelasticity in rabbit medial collateral ligament
Rittu V Hingorani1, Paolo P Provenzano, Roderic S Lakes
1Orthopedic Research Laboratories, Department of Orthopedics and Rehabilitation, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin 53792, USA.
Annals of Biomedical Engineering
|March 11, 2004
Summary
The rabbit medial collateral ligament (MCL) exhibits strain-dependent stress relaxation and stress-dependent creep. These viscoelastic properties are nonlinear within physiologically relevant loading ranges, impacting biomechanical models.
Area of Science:
- Biomechanics
- Biomaterials Science
- Orthopedic Research
Background:
- Ligaments are crucial for joint stability.
- Understanding ligament viscoelasticity is vital for injury assessment and treatment.
- Rabbit medial collateral ligament (MCL) is a common model for knee ligament research.
Purpose of the Study:
- To characterize the viscoelastic behavior of the rabbit MCL.
- To investigate strain-dependent stress relaxation and stress-dependent creep.
- To determine if these behaviors are nonlinear within physiological ranges.
Main Methods:
- Ex vivo testing of 30 rabbit MCLs.
- Application of varying strain levels (0-5%) for stress relaxation.
- Application of varying stress levels (0-55 MPa) for creep.
- Analysis of relaxation and creep rates.
Main Results:
- Stress relaxation rate was found to be strain-dependent in the rabbit MCL.
- Creep rate was found to be stress-dependent in the rabbit MCL.
- Both phenomena exhibited decreasing rates with increasing strain or stress, respectively.
Conclusions:
- The rabbit MCL demonstrates significant nonlinear viscoelastic behavior.
- These nonlinearities are most pronounced within the physiologically relevant loading region.
- These findings should be considered when using rabbit models to quantify ligament viscoelasticity.