Mechanics of damage in biological soft tissues

生物软组织损伤机制

• 批准号: 261630-2008
• 负责人: Thornton, Gail
• 金额: $ 1.82万
• 依托单位: University of Calgary
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Discovery Grants Program - Individual
• 财政年份: 2014
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2014-01-01 至 2015-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=547833
• 关键词: Mechanics; damage; biological; soft; tissues

Knee ligament injuries are common, in fact, 1 in 3000 people suffer an injury to their anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) every year. Ligaments are soft biological tissues that connect bones across a joint. Knee ligaments guide joint motion and maintain joint stability by resisting forces that tend to separate the bones of the joint. Some ligaments heal after injury by producing scar tissue that reconnects the torn ligament ends. When ligaments are not able to heal and reconnect the torn ligament ends, surgery is required to reconstruct the injured ligament. In some percentage of patients, injured and reconstructed ligaments do not maintain joint stability and appear to have "stretched out", leaving the patient susceptible to the development of painful osteoarthritis. Unfortunately, the reasons for poor healing of ligaments remain unclear. However, the current proposal questions whether the healing process is able to keep pace with the mechanical demands placed on the ligament. If the mechanical demands exceed the healing potential, damage may accumulate in the ligament as it heals. Normal daily loading for ligament involves sustained and repeated loading; the engineering terms for which are creep and fatigue, respectively. Creep and fatigue loading can cause damage to accumulate in a healing ligament. The exciting innovation of the proposed study is to apply the established engineering principles of continuum damage mechanics to a new problem from the field of biology and medicine, which is poor resolution of ligament healing. Experimental mechanical tests and theoretical mathematical models will be applied to help engineers and orthopaedic surgeons alike understand how damage accumulates in healing ligaments. The intended benefit of this research program is improved treatment of patients with knee ligament injuries.

实际上，膝盖韧带受伤很常见，每年有3000人中有1人因其前交叉韧带（ACL）造成伤害。 韧带是软生物组织，可连接关节的骨骼。 膝盖韧带通过抵抗倾向于分离关节的骨骼的力来指导关节运动并保持关节稳定性。 一些韧带在受伤后通过产生疤痕组织来愈合，从而重新连接韧带末端。 当韧带无法愈合并重新连接韧带末端时，需要进行手术以重建受伤的韧带。 在一定比例的患者中，受伤和重建的韧带不能保持关节稳定性，并且似乎“伸展”，使患者容易受到疼痛骨关节炎的发展。 不幸的是，韧带治愈不良的原因尚不清楚。 但是，当前的建议质疑治疗过程是否能够与韧带上的机械需求保持同步。 如果机械需求超出了愈合潜力，则在韧带愈合时可能会损伤。 韧带的正常每日载荷涉及持续和重复的负荷；工程术语分别是蠕变和疲劳。 蠕变和疲劳负荷会导致损害在愈合韧带中积聚。 拟议的研究的令人兴奋的创新是将Continuum损害力学的既定工程原理应用于生物学和医学领域的新问题，这是韧带愈合的不良分辨率。 实验机械测试和理论数学模型将用于帮助工程师和骨科外科医生了解疾病中的损害如何积累。 该研究计划的预期好处是改善了膝盖韧带损伤患者的治疗。