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Updated: Dec 12, 2025
Biomechanical Testing of Murine Tendons
Published on: October 15, 2019
ELASTOGRAPHIC ANALYSIS OF THE SUPRASPINATUS TENDON IN DIFFERENT AGE GROUPS
César Rubens da Costa Fontenelle1, Márcio Schiefer2, Pietro Mannarino1,2
1Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Hospital Universitário Clementino Fraga Filho, Orthopedic Trauma Service, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil.
Objective:
To compare the mechanical properties of the supraspinatus tendon in different age groups using Supersonic Shearwave Imaging (SSI) elastography.
Methods:
We evaluated 38 healthy individuals of both genders, 20 being in the range of 20 to 35 years and 18 being over 60 years. The shear modulus of the supraspinatus tendon was measured by SSI elastography, always on the right side. Means between age groups were compared and statistically analyzed using the Shapiro-Wilk normality test followed by the student's t-test and were established as a statistically significant value of p ≤ 0.05.
Results:
A statistically significant difference was observed when the mean values of the shear modulus of the supraspinatus tendon of young adults (23.98 ± 9.94 KpA) were compared with those of older adults (17.92 ± 6.17 KpA).
Conclusion:
We found a difference between the means of the shear modulus measured by the SSI elastography, showing a significant decrease of the shear modulus with the chronological age progression. Level of Evidence III, Diagnostic Studies - Investigating a Diagnostic Test.
