Characterization of Tendon Damage Accumulation

描述(申请人提供)：肌腱损伤，如重复过度使用和累积损伤(例如，腕管综合征)是疼痛和残疾的主要来源，但低水平损伤和肌腱病理进展的机制尚不清楚。肌腱愈合的动物模型虽然重要，但不能深入了解肌腱对累积磨损的反应。本文提出了一系列全面的实验，以系统地表征由受控水平的机械疲劳引起的损伤的开始和发展。将开发和实施一种新的力学测试方案，以重复性地引起日益严重的肌腱损伤，并将使用工程损伤参数进行量化。通过对实验数据的数学建模，将获得更多的肌腱粘弹性性能指标。疲劳加载肌腱的微观结构研究将被用来确定疲劳损伤的物理表现，并将结构变化与退化的力学措施相关联。这些拟议研究的成功完成将建立评估肌腱损伤后体内细胞反应所需的必要的损伤-降解关系。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Tendon injuries such as those of repetitive overuse and cumulative trauma (e.g., carpal tunnel syndrome) are a major source of pain and disability, yet the mechanism of low-level injury and progression of tendon pathology is unknown. Animal models of tendon healing, while important, do not provide insight into the response of tendons to cumulative wear and tear. A comprehensive series of experiments is proposed herein to systematically characterize damage initiation and progression resulting from controlled levels of imposed mechanical fatigue. A novel mechanical testing protocol will be developed and implemented to reproducibly induce increasing levels of tendon damage which will be quantified using engineering damage parameters. Additional indices of tendon viscoelastic behavior will be obtained from mathematical modeling of the experimental data. Microstructural studies on fatigue-loaded tendons will be used to define the physical manifestation of fatigue damage and to correlate the structural changes with mechanical measures of degradation. Successful completion of these proposed studies will establish the necessary damage-degradation relationships needed to assess in vivo cellular responses following tendon injury.