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This paper reports a microfabricated mechanical testing platform, its use for biomaterial stiffness measurements, and its preparation for dynamic mechanical stimulation of arrayed tissue samples. We present measured structural and mechanical properties of hydrogel materials and demonstrate that human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSC) can be cultured in 3D gels within the platform. By integrating mi...

The mechanical properties of porous ceramics are greatly influenced by their microstructure. Therefore, mechanical behavior of highly porous ceramics is different from that of dense ceramics. In this work, we evaluate different mechanical testing methods such as static compression, Brazilian disc test and 3-point bending on their suitability for comparison of highly porous ceramic materials. It...

Experimental modal analysis is a non-destructive measurement technique, which applies low forces and small deformations to assess the integrity of a structure. It is therefore a promising method to study the mechanical properties of the spine in vivo. Previously, modal parameters successfully revealed artificially induced spinal injuries. The question remains however, whether experimental modal...

BACKGROUND The DASCOR device has recently been introduced as an innovative nucleus replacement alternative for the treatment of low-back pain caused by degenerative intervertebral disc disease. The purpose of this study was to characterize, through a series of preclinical mechanical bench and biomechanical tests, the effectiveness of this device. METHODS A number of samples were created using...

Martensitic steels form a material class with a versatile range of properties that can be selected by varying the processing chain. In order to study and design the desired processing with the minimal experimental effort, modeling tools are required. In this work, a full processing cycle from quenching over tempering to mechanical testing is simulated with a single modeling framework that combi...

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the stability and repeatability of measures of mechanical (nociceptive) thresholds in piglets and to examine potentially confounding factors when using a hand held algometer. STUDY DESIGN Descriptive, prospective cohort. ANIMALS Forty-four piglets from four litters, weighing 4.6 ± 1.0 kg (mean ± SD) at 2 weeks of age. METHODS Mechanical thresholds were measured twice...

objective(s): in this study, the effect of electrospun fiber orientation on proliferation and differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells (mscs) was evaluated. materials and methods: aligned and random nanocomposite nanofibrous scaffolds were electrospun from polylactic acid (pla), poly (vinyl alcohol) (pva) and calcium carbonate nanoparticles (ncap). the surface morphology of prepared nanofibrou...

An ultrafine grained dual phase (UFG DP) steel containing niobium was produced by a new route utilizing simple cold-rolling and subsequent intercritical annealing of ferrite/martensite duplex starting structures. The effects of intercritical holding time on the microstructural evolutions and mechanical properties were studied. The results showed that increasing intercritical holding time enhnac...

Characterization of the mechanical behavior of biological and engineered soft tissues is a central component of fundamental biomedical research and product development. Stress-strain relationships are typically obtained from mechanical testing data to enable comparative assessment among samples and in some cases identification of constitutive mechanical properties. However, errors may be introd...