OBJECTIVE To characterize the viscoelastic properties of cervical mucus plugs(CMPs) shed during labor at term. DESIGN Experimental research. SETTING Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Aarhus University Hospital, Denmark. POPULATION/SAMPLE Spontaneously shed CMPs from 18 healthy women in active labor. METHODS Viscoelastic properties of CMPs were investigated with a dynamic oscillat...

Hydrogel-based scaffolds such as alginate have been extensively investigated for cartilage tissue engineering, largely due to their biocompatibility, ambient gelling conditions, and the ability to support chondrocyte phenotype. While it is well established that the viscoelastic response of articular cartilage is essential for articulation and load bearing, the time-dependent mechanical properti...

Ultrasonic elasticity imaging enables visualization of soft tissue deformation for medical diagnosis. Our aim is to understand the role of flow-dependent and flow-independent viscoelastic mechanisms in the response of biphasic polymeric media, including biological tissues and hydrogels, to low-frequency forces. Combining the results of confined and unconfined compression experiments on gelatin ...

We precisely measure the force-free swimming speed of a rotating helix in viscous and viscoelastic fluids. The fluids are highly viscous to replicate the low Reynolds number environment of microorganisms. The helix, a macroscopic scale model for the bacterial flagellar filament, is rigid and rotated at a constant rate while simultaneously translated along its axis. By adjusting the translation ...

An analysis of a novel indentation model has been implemented to obtain master curves describing the optimal experimental parameters necessary to achieve the highest possible accuracy in the determination of viscoelastic properties of soft materials. The indentation model is a rigid indenter driven by a compliant measurement system, such as an atomic force microscope or optical tweezers, into a...

The pounding tuned mass damper (PTMD) is a novel vibration control device that can be used for many different structures. The PTMD utilizes a viscoelastic delimiter to enhance its vibration control effectiveness and robustness though pounding between the tuned mass and the viscoelastic material. However, the viscoelastic material is subjected to repeated poundings during its service life, which...

Liquid crystal flexoelectric actuation uses an imposed electric field to create membrane bending and it is used by the Outer Hair Cells (OHC) located in the inner ear, whose role is to amplify sound through generation of mechanical power. Oscillations in the OHC membranes create periodic viscoelastic flows in the contacting fluid media. A key objective of this work on flexoelectric actuation re...

Ultrasound Contrast Agents (UCAs) composed ofgaseous microbubbles exhibit acoustic properties that differ fromthose surrounding tissue. In order to increase the contrast totissue ratio, it is necessary to propose methods that characterizeoptimally the ultrasonic properties of UCAs. The aim of thisstudy is to measure the viscoelastic properties of UCAs using adynamic acou...

Among the passive control techniques for vibration attenuation in composite structures demonstrated in the last decades, the use of viscoelastic material as a damping core in laminated beam like components is an interesting possibility but has not yet received sufficient attention so far. In order to gain an insight into this interest and develop more accurate and efficient viscoelastic-based v...

Title of Document: SURFACE CHARACTERIZATION OF VISCOELASTIC MATERIALS THROUGH SPECTRAL INTERMITTENT CONTACT ATOMIC FORCE MICROSCOPY Jeffrey Charles Williams, Master of Science, 2012 Directed By: Assistant Professor Santiago Solares Department of Mechanical Engineering The ability to recover material properties at the atomic scale has been the ongoing objective of the Atomic Force Microscope (AF...