Hydration of connective tissue and tendon elasticity

Determining the effect of hydration upon the properties of ligaments using pseudo Gaussian stress stimuli

“…While the experimental design could confound the effect of water removal with the potential effect of sucrose addition to the tissue, the results are generally consistent with other studies that used different methods to achieve dehydration (Betsch and Baer, 1980;Elden, 1964). Furthermore, the rapidity of the area changes and their linear relationship with osmolarity as well as the linear dependence of the creep rate upon the log of the osmolarity strongly support the concept that hydration is the major effect being observed.…”

Spatial characterization of T1 and T2 relaxation times and the water apparent diffusion coefficient in rabbit Achilles tendon subjected to tensile loading

“…In cartilage, for example, compressive-load testing has demonstrated the influence of hydration on the tissue's static material properties (2). It has been shown that the solid extracellular matrix of the tissue contributes a viscous component to the response to compressive loading as water moves through the matrix (2,3). Similar behavior has been reported in mechanical testing of ligament.…”

A biphasic and transversely isotropic mechanical model for tendon:

“…Our results provide quantitative evidence for fluid flow as a mechanism contributing to tendon viscoelasticity. Fluid flow and its associated pressure gradient have been suggested as mechanisms for tendon viscoelasticity (Elden, 1964;Lanir et al, 1988;Chimich et al, 1992;Chen et al, 2000) and diffusion of water during tendon loading has been measured using magnetic resonance imaging (Han et al, 2000). Fluid flow mechanisms may be important not only to tendon mechanical mechanics, but also to tendon cell function.…”