Suitability of Thiel embalmed tendons for biomechanical investigation

The standard post-mortem storage method for biomechanical testing is freezing. Freezing minimally alters the biomechanical characteristics of tendons but only suspends the process of decay. Chemical fixation arrests decay and overcomes risk of infection, but alters the biomechanical properties of te...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Annals of anatomy 2011-05, Vol.193 (3), p.237-241
Main Authors: Fessel, Gion, Frey, Kevin, Schweizer, Andreas, Calcagni, Maurizio, Ullrich, Oliver, Snedeker, Jess G.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Aged
Biomechanics
Elastic Modulus - physiology
Embalming - methods
Female
Freezing
Human flexor tendon
Humans
Male
Stress, Mechanical
Tail tendon
Tendons - anatomy & histology
Tendons - physiology
Tensile Strength - physiology
Thiel embalming
Tissue Preservation
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Summary:The standard post-mortem storage method for biomechanical testing is freezing. Freezing minimally alters the biomechanical characteristics of tendons but only suspends the process of decay. Chemical fixation arrests decay and overcomes risk of infection, but alters the biomechanical properties of tendons. On the other hand, Thiel preservation has been reported to maintain soft tissue consistency similar to that of living tissue. The current study investigates the effects of Thiel embalming on human digitorum profundus tendons (FDP) from fresh-frozen and Thiel embalmed cadavers. Cross-sectional area was measured at pre-load, samples were preconditioned and then ramped at a constant strain-rate to failure. Thiel preserved tendons had statistically lower failure stress with median of 38 MPa compared to fresh frozen samples with median of 60 MPa ( p-value = 0.048) and trended to a decreased tangential modulus. To overcome limited donor number and masking factors of age, gender, and time embalmed, we also performed experiments in rat tail tendon fascicle. Similar quasi-static ramp to failure tests were performed with control and Thiel treated sample pairs. Similar differences were observed to those found as in human FDP, however these trends were statistically significant. In both tendons, Thiel preserved samples demonstrated altered failure characteristics, indicating a different collagen fiber/collagen network failure mechanism most likely due to partial denaturing by boric acid in Thiel solution. In conclusion, Thiel embalmed tendons did not faithfully represent the biomechanical characteristics of fresh frozen tendons.
ISSN:0940-9602
1618-0402
DOI:10.1016/j.aanat.2011.03.007