BRIGE: Characterizing the Time-Dependent and Anisotropic Mechanical Properties of the Uterine Cervix with Micro and Nano Indentation

这项扩大参与工程研究启动补助金（bridge）为研究人类宫颈组织的力学特性提供了资金，并为提高女学生对工程科学的认识提供了机会。研究的目的是量化宫颈结构和材料性能的关系，以确定妊娠期间宫颈组织重塑和力学性能如何相互影响。宫颈细胞外基质（ECM）负责维持组织的机械完整性和调节细胞活性。胶原网络的结构和胶原纤维与周围环境的相互作用决定了组织的非线性、时间依赖性和各向异性的物质行为。本研究旨在开发一种微纳米压痕技术来解释颈椎组织的各向异性和时间依赖性力学行为，并开发有限元分析工具来探索压痕过程中的应力和应变行为。该测试框架将指导适当的本构模型的发展，以产生描述性材料特性，并将有利于未来通过疾病，遗传操作和生化改变改变的宫颈组织的研究。子宫颈是一个机械屏障，在怀孕期间将胎儿保留在子宫内。宫颈的机械完整性和妊娠期间组织重塑事件的精确时间对胎儿的健康妊娠至关重要。由该基金资助的研究旨在表征人类宫颈组织的力学行为，并量化结缔组织改变如何影响宫颈材料特性。目标是发展适当的实验和分析方法，以解释组织的复杂性质。在项目实验室进行的研究致力于通过科学研究促进妇女健康，通过这些努力，项目进一步旨在通过在高中、本科和研究生阶段的努力，吸引和招募女学生进入工程领域。

This Broadening Participation Research Initiation Grant in Engineering (BRIGE) award provides funding for the investigation of the mechanical properties of human cervical tissue and provides opportunities to raise the visibility of engineering science to female students. The research goal is to quantify cervical structure and material property relationships to determine how cervical tissue remodeling and mechanical properties influence each other during pregnancy. The cervical extracellular matrix (ECM) is responsible for maintaining tissue mechanical integrity and for regulating cell activity. The architecture of the collagen network and the interaction of the collagen fibers with its surroundings dictate the non-linear, time-dependent, and anisotropic material behavior of the tissue. This research aims to develop a micro and nanoindentation technique to account for the anisotropic and time-dependent mechanical behavior of cervical tissue and to develop finite element analysis tools to explore stress and strain behavior during indentation. This testing framework will guide the development of an appropriate constitutive model to generate descriptive material properties and will benefit future investigations of cervical tissue altered through disease, genetic manipulation, and biochemical alteration.The cervix is a mechanical barrier, retaining the fetus inside the uterus during pregnancy. The mechanical integrity of the cervix and the precise timing of tissue remodeling events during pregnancy are critical for a healthy gestation of the fetus. The research funded by this grant aims to characterize the mechanical behavior of human cervical tissue and to quantify how connective tissue alterations may influence cervical material properties. The goal is to develop appropriate experimental and analytical methodologies to account for the complex nature of the tissue. The research conducted in the PI's lab is dedicated to the advancement of women's health through scientific research, and through these efforts the PI further aims to attract and recruit female students to the engineering field through efforts at the high school, undergraduate, and graduate level.