Bovine and degenerated human annulus fibrosus: a microstructural and micromechanical comparison.

ABSTRACT: The complex structure of the annulus fibrosus is strongly related to its mechanical properties. Recent work showed that it is possible to observe the relative movement of fibre bundles in loaded cow tail annulus; the aim of this work was to describe and quantify annulus fibrosus micromechanics in degenerated human disc, and compare it with cow tail annulus, an animal model often used in the literature. Second harmonic generation was used to image the collagen matrix in twenty strips of annulus fibrosus harvested from intervertebral disc of seven patients undergoing surgery. Samples were loaded to 6% tensile strain in 1% steps. Elastic modulus was calculated from loading curves, and micromechanical strains were calculated from the images using custom software. The same protocol was applied

SUBMITTER: Vergari C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5511600 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature