Tensile behaviour of individual fibre bundles in the human lumbar anulus fibrosus
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Date
2017-11-28
Authors
Pham, Diana, T
Shapter, Joseph George
Costi, John Jack
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Elsevier
Rights
© 2017 Elsevier Ltd
Rights Holder
Elsevier Ltd
Abstract
Disc degeneration is a common medical affliction whose origins are not fully understood. An improved understanding of its underlying mechanisms could lead to the development of more effective treatments.
The aim of this paper was to investigate the effect of (1) degeneration, (2) circumferential region and (3) strain rate on the microscale mechanical properties (toe region modulus, linear modulus, extensibility, phase angle) of individual fibre bundles in the anulus fibrosus lamellae of the human intervertebral disc. Healthy and degenerate fibre bundles excised from different circumferential regions in the outer anulus (posterolateral, lateral, anterolateral, anterior) were tensile tested at slow (0.1%/s), medium (1%/s) and fast (10%/s) strain rates using a micromechanical testing system.
Our preliminary results showed that neither degeneration nor circumferential region significantly affected the fibre bundles’ mechanical behaviour. However, when the fibre bundles were tested at higher strain rates, this resulted in significantly higher linear moduli and lower phase angles.
These findings, compared with data from other studies investigating single and multiple lamellae sections, suggest that degeneration has minimal effect on outer anulus mechanics irrespective of structural level, and the inter- and intra-lamellar arrangement and continuity of the fibre bundles may influence the lamellae’s regional behaviour and viscoelasticity.
Description
© 2017 Elsevier. This manuscript version is made available under the CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 license: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
This author accepted manuscript is made available following 12 month embargo from date of publication (Nov 2017) in accordance with the publisher’s archiving policy
Keywords
Anulus fibrosus, Collagen, Degeneration, Fibre, Human, Intervertebral disc, Lumbar spine, Tensile properties
Citation
Pham, D. T., Shapter, J. G., & Costi, J. J. (2018). Tensile behaviour of individual fibre bundles in the human lumbar anulus fibrosus. Journal of Biomechanics, 67, 24–31. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbiomech.2017.11.016