Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
of current nanoindentation methods for characterization of cartilage and
other soft tissues will also be discussed.
2.3
. Review of major cartilage nanoindentation studies
To date, articular cartilage is the soft tissue most commonly studied
using nanoindentation. Nanoindentation has proven to be a valuable tool
for cartilage characterization due to its ability to measure mechanical
properties
in situ
without disrupting the complex microstructure and its
ability to map mechanical properties with microscale resolution.
Applications have included comparing the mechanical properties of
control and repair cartilage in rabbit knees
18
and minature pig knees,
19
correlating mechanical properties in different regions of rabbit
metacarpophalangeal (finger) joints with morphological parameters,
20
and measuring the fracture toughness of cartilage in bovine patellar
Figure 9-1. Schematic illustration of in situ cartilage nanoindentation using a spherical
tip, with collagen fibers intact. The vertical arrow illustrates the applied load or
displacement. Reprinted with permission from the nanoindentation of biological
materials review by Ebenstein and Pruitt.
7
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