Mechanical and Materials Assessment

机械和材料评估核心侧重于提供补充技术， 确定机械性能，并进行天然和工程材料表征 骨科组织，以及提供体内模型，以研究这些骨骼组织的适应性， 机械刺激骨骼组织包括骨、软骨、韧带、半月板和肌腱，并完成 它们的体内功能通过广泛的材料组成和机械行为来实现。这些组织 对生物物理和生物化学环境作出反应，调整其组成和结构。 骨架函数由材料的性质和材料的空间分布决定 在结构内。评估功能是肌肉骨骼修复的基础， 这是因为只有在机械功能能够恢复的情况下，这些尝试才会成功。因此，我们认为， 机械和材料评估核心的目标是提供设备和方法， 肌肉骨骼组织和器官的机械测试和材料表征;培训研究人员 在使用和解释这些技术;并开发新的应用和方法， 支持核心中心生物医学研究基地内的研究人员的研究计划。新 适用于当前和计划中的实验中使用的生物学方法的测试方法 由core研究人员已经开发，特别是在体内小动物实验，以补充 技术（如显微CT，组织学和傅立叶变换红外成像）可在该中心的 其他研究核心这些努力定期由用户团体进行审查，其中包括生物医学 工程师、临床医生、生物学家、放射学家、化学家和他们的学生。其结果是， 多学科生物医学研究基地之间的合作，并引入新的 调查人员的核心能力。

The Mechanical and Material Assessment Core focuses on providing complementary techniques for determining mechanical properties and performing material characterization of native and engineered orthopaedic tissues, as well as providing in vivo models to study adaptation of these skeletal tissues to mechanical stimuli. Skeletal tissues include bone, cartilage, ligament, menicus and tendon, and accomplish their in vivo function through a wide range of material compositions and mechanical behavior. These tissues are responsive to their biophysical and biochemical environments, adapting their composition and structure. Skeletal function is dictated by the properties of the materials and the spatial distribution of the materials within the structure. Assessing function is fundamental to endeavors aimed at musculoskeletal repair and regeneration, because these attempts will only succeed if mechanical function can be restored. Therefore, the goals of the Mechanical and Material Assessment Core are to provide equipment and methodologies for mechanical testing and material characterization of musculoskeletal tissues and organs; to train investigators in the use and interpretation of these techniques; and, to develop new applications and methodologies to support the research programs of investigators within the Core Center's biomedical research base. New testing methodologies suitable to the biological approaches being used in current and planned experiments by cOre investigators have been developed, particularly for in vivo small animal experiments, to complement techniques (such as micro-CT, histology, and Fourier transform infrared imaging) available in the Center's other research cores. These efforts are periodically reviewed by user groups, which include biomedical engineers, clinicians, biologists, radiologists, chemists, and their students. The result has been an expansion of collaborations among the multidisciplinary biomedical research base and the introduction of new investigators to the capabilities of the core.