| he in vivo mechanical function of biologic connective tissues is generally hypothesized to be a critical parameter influencing the presence and quantity of their constituent materials as well as their structural arrangement and consequent interactions. Or stated another way, the structure of a tissue likely contributes to its ability to perform its required mechanical function. To address this global hypothesis, it is the overall objective of this thesis project to quantitatively investigate relationships between the structure and mechanical function of soft tissues such as tendon. Specific structural and mechanical parameters were measured in tail tendon fascicles from adult control, adult Mov13 transgenic, and immature control mice. Data were fit to regression models, and correlations were obtained and investigated. Results demonstrated that fascicle structural parameters (from mechanical tests), stiffness and inflection point displacement, appear to be moderately- to well-correlated with structural parameters, mean fibril diameter, cell volume fraction, and CSDS GAG content... |
