Mechanical characterization of fibrotic and mineralized tissue in Peyronie’s disease

Mechanical Characterization of the Male Lower Urinary Tract: Comparison among Soft Tissues from the Same Human Case Study

“…These findings showed an altered tissue behavior with mineralization, supported by the literature studies on atherosclerotic plaque mechanics which found higher modulus [19][20][21] in calcified plaques compared to healthy tissue. Healthy tunica albuginea samples tested in the present study showed mechanical properties close to the lower limit of the wide range shown in [17]. Tensile strength and Young's modulus of tunica albuginea were also evaluated in a primate model by Kandabarow et al [18], reporting, respectively, an average value of 1.9 ± 0.4 MPa and 11.9 ± 4.2 MPa along the circumferential direction, very close to the values obtained longitudinally in the present study (UTS 2.12 MPa, [1.39, 3.81] MPa; E 12.77 MPa, [10.36, 17.70] MPa).…”

“…However, the thickness values were very similar (2.42 ± 0.53 mm [16] vs. 2.38 ± 0.52 mm). Regarding the mechanical basis of pathological conditions, Brady et al [17] proposed uniaxial tensile tests up to failure (strain rate 1 mm s −1 ) of the tunica albuginea affected by PD. Specimens exhibited high variability in mechanical properties (E of 5-118 MPa, UTS 1.1-6.1 MPa and strain at UTS 9-42%).…”

“…The mechanical basis of the tunica albuginea was only partially studied in human health conditions [16] or disease [17], and in an animal model [18]. In 1990, Bitsch et al [16] performed tensile tests up to failure by adopting a tensiometer and exposing the samples to a stepwise increasing pressure.…”

“…In 1990, Bitsch et al [16] performed tensile tests up to failure by adopting a tensiometer and exposing the samples to a stepwise increasing pressure. In 2022, Brady et al [17] designed a testing strategy to characterize the mechanical properties of the tunica albuginea affected by Peyronie's Disease (PD), a progressive fibrosis that can cause tissue mineralization. Uniaxial tensile tests up to failure showed an altered tissue behavior with mineralization, supported by the literature studies on the atherosclerotic plaque mechanics which found higher moduli [19][20][21] in calcified plaques compared to healthy tissue.…”