Regional and depth variability of porcine meniscal mechanical properties through biaxial testing

The menisci in the knee joint undergo complex loading in-vivo resulting in a multidirectional stress distribution. Extensive mechanical testing has been conducted to investigate the tissue properties of the knee meniscus, but the testing conditions do not replicate this complex loading regime. Biaxial testing involves loading tissue along two different directions simultaneously, which more accurately simulates physiologic loading conditions. The purpose of this study was to report mechanical properties of meniscal tissue resulting from biaxial testing, while simultaneously investigating regional variations in properties. Ten left, fresh porcine joints were obtained, and the medial and lateral menisci were harvested from each joint (twenty menisci total). Each menisci was divided into an anterior, middle and posterior region; and three slices (femoral, deep and tibial layers) were obtained from each region. Biaxial and constrained uniaxial testing was performed on each specimen, and Young's moduli were calculated from the resulting stress strain curves. Results illustrated significant differences in regional mechanical properties, with the medial anterior (Young's modulus (E)=11.14 ± 1.10 MPa), lateral anterior (E=11.54 ± 1.10 MPa) and lateral posterior (E=9.0 ± 1.2 MPa) regions exhibiting the highest properties compared to the medial central (E=5.0 ± 1.22 MPa), medial posterior (E=4.16 ± 1.13 MPa) and lateral central (E=5.6 ± 1.20 MPa) regions. Differences with depth were also significant on the lateral meniscus, with the femoral (E=12.7 ± 1.22 MPa) and tibial (E=8.6 ± 1.22 MPa) layers exhibiting the highest Young's moduli. This data may form the basis for future modeling of meniscal tissue, or may aid in the design of synthetic replacement alternatives.