Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
CHAPTER 9
NANOINDENTATION OF SOFT TISSUES AND OTHER
BIOLOGICAL MATERIALS
Donna M. Ebenstein
Biomedical Engineering Department, Bucknell University
E-mail:
donna.ebenstein@bucknell.edu
Nanoindentation is a valuable tool for mapping mechanical properties
in samples from small animal models and can aid in generation of
structure-property relationships in hierarchical biological materials at
some of their smallest length scales, which can have important
applications in clinical medicine and materials development. Although
a young field, nanoindentation has been applied to studies of diverse
biological materials. This chapter will focus primarily on soft tissue
characterization using nanoindentation, with an emphasis on cartilage
studies, but will also briefly review the application of nanoindentation
techniques to other non-mineralized biological materials such as wood,
plant leaves, and spider silk to highlight the broad range of research
questions that can be addressed using this high resolution mechanical
characterization tool. The challenges that are faced in adapting the
nanoindentation technique to the study of compliant, hydrated soft
tissues will also be discussed, and some of the current approaches to
overcoming those challenges will be summarized.
1. Introduction
The mechanical characterization of tissues and other biological
materials has important applications in clinical medicine and materials
development. For example, many of the tissues in the body are load-
bearing tissues. Characterization of the mechanical behavior of these
tissues can provide valuable information for understanding the function
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