Long-term mechanical behaviour of skeletal muscle tissue in semi-confined compression experiments

In this study, porcine skeletal muscle tissue was tested until 112 hours post mortem using a semi-confined compression device that induces fascicles to enter one of the states of compression (mode I), tension (mode II), or constant length (mode III). Based on the authors׳ previous studies (Böl et al., 2014, 2015a), the anisotropic mechanical behaviour of the tissue was analysed, with a special focus on the testing time post mortem. The results suggest that the tissue exhibits significant anisotropic behaviour during the first hours of post mortem but that this anisotropy becomes insignificant at later time points. Interestingly, the compressibility of the tissue is more or less unaffected by the testing time. These results are discussed especially with respect to tissue microstructure.