Phase shifting speckle interferometry for determination of strain and Young's modulus of mineralized biological materials: a study of tooth dentin compression in water.

Mineralized biological materials have complex hierarchical graded structures. It is therefore difficult to understand the relations between their structure and mechanical properties. We report the use of electronic speckle pattern-correlation interferometry (ESPI) combined with a mechanical compression apparatus to measure the strain and Young's modulus of root dentin compressed under water. We describe the optomechanical instrumentation, experimental techniques and procedures needed to measure cubes as small as 1 x 1 x 2 mm. Calibration of the method is performed using aluminum, which shows that the measurements are accurate within 3% of the compression modulus reported for standard aluminum 6061. Our results reveal that the compression moduli of root dentin from the buccal and lingual sides of the root are quite different from the moduli of the interproximal sides. Root dentin from interproximal locations is found to have an average modulus of 21.3 GPa, which is about 40% stiffer than root dentin from the buccal and lingual locations, found to have a modulus of 15.0 GPa. Our approach can be used to map deformations on irregular surfaces, and measure strain on wet samples of varying sizes. This can be extended to the study of other biological materials including bone and synthetic biomaterials.