Ch. 4 - Soft Tissue Mechanics Flashcards
What are the major soft tissues encountered in the MSK system?
- Tendon
- Ligament
- Articular cartilage
- Intervertebral disc
- Muscle
What are the functions of soft tissue?
- Connect tissues - Ligaments provide connection btw bones. Tendons connect muscles to bone.
- Control relative joint motion - Ligaments.
- Lubricate joints - Articular cartilage ensures low friction to allow joint mobility.
- Actuate skeletal system - Muscles.
What is special about soft tissues as structural elements?
- Must withstand large loads
- Must provide kinematic restraint
- Fail at much higher strains than bone
- Show a non-linear elastic response, with increased stiffness at higher applied strain
- Show pronounced viscoelastic (rate or time-dependent) behaviour
What is viscoelasticity?
Time- or rate-dependent behaviour of stress-strain levels (assuming material is loaded to a level where it does not suffer any irreversible deformation).
What does viscous mean?
It means that the applied stress is proportional to the time rate of change (of strain). It is modelled with a dashpot.
What does elastic mean?
It means that it shows an instantaneous, reversible response upon loading. Linear elasticity is governed by Hooke’s Law. It is modelled using a spring.
State 2 common effects observed in viscoelastics solids.
- The material is stiffer at higher applied strain rate. The faster the material is loaded, the more relaxation mechanisms are not able to follow.
- When applying cyclic loading on a viscoelastic material, it does not follow the same path in both loading and unloading paths of the stress-strain curve. The paths are out of phase = Hysteretic behaviour. The area within the hysteresis loop is energy dissipated with one loading/unloading cycle.
What are the 2 most important behaviours shown by viscoelastic materials.
- Creep - Material is loaded with a constant stress. The instantaneous response of the material is elastic followed by a time dependent increase in strain, called creep.
- Stress Relaxation - Material is deformed with a strain step and held at a constant strain (deformation). Initial stress is governed by the instantaneous elastic behaviour, after which stress decreases gradually until an equilibrium stress level is reached.
What are the constitutive equations for:
a) an elastic spring
b) a viscous dashpot
a) sigma = E x epsilon
(stress is proportional to strain)
b) sigma = mu x time derivative of epsilon
(stress is proportional to strain rate)
Describe a Maxwell linear viscoelastic model.
The Maxwell model consists of a spring and dashpot in series. The same stress is displayed by both the spring and dashpot, but they can both deform independently of each other.
Describe the creep response of a Maxwell model.
We see instant elastic deformation of the spring, followed by linear increase of the strain in the damper. Upon unloading, the instant deformation of the spring is recovered but the strain of the damper stays.
Describe the stress-relaxation response of a Maxwell model.
There is instantaenous stress due to deformation of the spring. Over time, the damper elongates, resulting in reduction of stress over time. The dashpot will elongate until the stress reaches zero.
Describe a Kelvin-Voigt linear viscoelastic model.
The Kelvin-Voigt viscoelastic model consists of a spring and dashpot in parallel. Deformation of both elements is the same, but they can each carry different stresses.
Describe the creep response of a Kelvin-Voigt model.
There is no instantaneous response, as the load is immediately taken up by both elements. The creep rate decreases with time as more and more of the load is taken up by the spring. Deformation eventually finds an equilibrium where the load is totally take up by the spring, and the dashpot is unloaded. When the load is removed, the creep strain will be recovered completely if enough time is allowed.
Describe the stress-relaxation response of a Kelvin-Voigt model.
Initial stress is infinite, because the strain rate in the strain step is infinite, leading to infinite stress in the dashpot. As strain is held constant, the strain rate becomes 0 and stress in damper vanishes. Only spring (instant elastic) contribution to stress is kept.
Describe the Standard Linear Solid model.
The SLS model consists of a spring in series with a Kelvin-Voigt element.
Describe the creep response of an SLS model.
There is instantaneous deformation of the spring E1, followed by inverse exponential increase in strain of KV element. Upon unloading, the deformation of the spring E1 is recovered instantaneously, after which if enough time is allowed creep strain on KV element will be recovered.
Describe the basic role of tendons.
Tendons connect muscles to bones and are loaded in series with muscles. They are optimised to store elastic energy and transmit large forces on a regular basis.
Describe the basic role of ligaments.
Ligaments connect bones to bones. They guide and restrict joint motion, ensuring joint stability. Functional forces are usually small, as they should not hinder joint motion in the physiological range. Joint motion is restricted when a critical point is reached during an unusual event.
What is the composition of tendons? Why?
Tendons must be stiff and strong to be able to transmit large forces without mechanical loss from muscles to skeleton on a regular basis. Therefore, they need a higher amount of highly aligned collagen fibril. Composition: 60% water (wet weight) 75-85% collagen type I 1-3% elastin 1-2% proteoglycan
What is the composition of ligaments? Why?
Ligaments need to stretch considerably without failing to help guide large joint motions. Therefore, they feature high quantity of elastin and less aligned collagen fibrils, which both lead to increase in ultimate strain ligaments can reach before failure. Composition: 60% water (wet weight) 70-80% collagen type I 1-15% elastin 1-3% proteoglycan
State the hierarchical structure of tendon from smallest to largest element.
- Tropocollagen
- Microfibril
- Sub-fibril
- Fibril
- Fascicle
- Tendon
When does tendonitis occur? How does the healing process progress?
Tendonitis occurs when tendon becomes partially torn or inflamed.
Healing occurs more slowly than in bone since tendons are less vascularised than bones. It progresses over 3 phases:
1. Inflammatory - damages tissue removed
2. Proliferation - new ECM laid down with limited order
3. Remodelling - loosely oriented tissue gets remodelled to regain its original degree of order and therefore its full mechanical integrity
What are bursae?
Bursae are small fluid-filled sacs that help cushion the movement of certain tendons over bone.
What is endotendon and what is its purpose?
Endotendon contains nerves, blood vessels and lymphatics. It is a loose connective tissue wrapping vesicles. it allows them to slide wrt each other, thus providing more flexibility.
Why is tendon more cartilaginous near bone contact?
This enhances compressive strength. It helps better withstand the compressive contact stresses and reduces friction btw neighbouring tissues.
What is the difference between avascular and vascular tendons?
Avascular tendons have a synovial sheath for low-friction sliding. Epitenon is a connective tissue btw tendon and the heat which seretes synovial fluid. Blood arrives through the viniculae.
Vascular tendons do not have a synovial sheath. The paratenon is a connective tissue surrounding the tendon and allows blood supply directly into the tendon.
Describe the basic structure of ligaments.
Ligament fascicles are connected by endotendon, but unlike in tendon, they are not necessarily aligned with the main structure. Ligaments are tight fibrous bands of dense regular connective tissue in which collagen fibres are arranged in parallel wavy bundles. Ligaments have a scarce blood supply and inside the ligament is a fibrous joint capsule lined by the synovium.
Give an example of 2 tissue ligaments with different orientations. Why is this the case?
ACL fascicles are spirally wound around each other, while collateral ligament fascicles lie parallel to the ligament length.
Fascicles can slide relative to each other quite easily, making it possible for the ligament to respond effectively to changing load situation. In the ACL, some fascicles take up most of the load in twisting motions of the knee, while others are dominant for translation. The mechanical properties of the structure thus depend highly on applied loading mode and direction (highly anisotropic and heterogenous).
Describe the 4 stages of the mechanical behaviour of tendon and ligament on a stress-strain curve.
- Initial non-linear toe region - Characterised by sequential recruitment of collagen fibres with higher loading
- Quasi-linear region - Stretching of aligned collagen fibres is dominating
- Damage initiation - When overloading, some fibrils will start failing, leading to reduction in the apparent stiffness of ligament or tendon
- Failure region - Once the tissue is stretched too far, large defects are developed as more and more fibres fail. This will ultimately lead to a tear in the ligament or tendon, which corresponds to total failure.
What are the differences between the stress-strain behaviour of tendon and ligament?
- Tendon is stronger and stiffer than ligament, as fibrils are more aligned with the loading axis (tendon must transmit larger forces)
- Ligaments can take higher strains before damage initiates (ligament must allow large movements)
Explain why in tendon and ligament, Hookean Law does not apply until all collagen fibrils have been recruited.
Collagen fibrils are sequentially activated. To model this we can consider an array of springs to represent the crimped collagen fibrils with different intiail lengths. As unit cell is progressively stretched, more and more fibres are getting stretched. Each time a fibre gets recruited, the apparent stiffness of the unit cell is increased. When all fibres have been recruited, linear elastic behaviour is reached. The fibres that have been recruited earlier are stretched more. Therfore, damage region is also characterised by a progressive degradation of stiffness, as more fibres reach their limit and fail.
How does the in vitro behaviour of tendons and ligaments compare to that in vivo?
In vitro - Both tendons and ligaments have initial non-linear toe region.
In vivo - For tendons, the initial slack region does not exist, as they are always held under some tension. For ligaments, the situation is less clear. If a slack region exists, ligaments would allow substantial joint laxity and muscles would play the main role for stabilisation of the joint. If ligaments are pre-loaded, they could play a role for joint stabilisation in a larger part of the ROM.
For mechanical testing of tendons and ligaments, we use bone-tendon-bone or bone-ligament-bone specimens. Why is the soft tissue not isolated?
The removal of soft tissue from the bone may damage the tissue. Furthermore by keeping bone at the edges, the sample is easier to clamp.
What is avulsion (vs. midsubstance failure) and when is it observed?
Avulsion is when failure occurs at the bone-soft tissue interface. This is undesired. It mostly occurs in younger animals, where the growth plate is not yet closed.
How do the mechanical properties of tendon and ligament change with age?
- Strength decreases
- Stiffness increases significantly
- Ultimate load is reduced
What vascular and composition changes take place with increase in age that alter the mechanobiology, healing capacity and function of soft tissue?
- Maturation of collagen cross-link
- Increase in fibre diamter
- Increase in collagen content
- Reduction in elastin content
- Reduction in water content
What are the 3 main types of cartilage?
- Hyaline cartilage
- Fibrocartilage
- Elastic cartilage
What are the 3 main components of articular cartilage?
- Porous matrix
- Water
- Ions
What are the 2 main functions of articular cartilage?
- Transmit large normal joint loads to the subchondral bone
2. Allow relative motion of the joint surface with minimal friction and wear
Describe the composition of articular cartilage.
Articular cartilage is built up by cells called chondrocytes. Composition: 10-20% collagen type II 5-10% proteoglycans 68-85% fluid other non-collagenous proteins
What are the 3 main properties of articular cartilage?
- Not innervated/aneural
- Not vascularised
- Alymphatic