Evaluation of viscoelastic properties of four pharmaceutical fillers of different chemical structure using a stress relaxation test is described. The obtained values express not only the elasticity and plasticity of the material, but also describe the processes inside the compressed material. For each of the fillers tested, three modules of elasticity and three modules of plasticity were calculated. Different modules were found in the polymeric and crystalline fillers. Dehydrated dicalcium phosphate possesses a high module of plasticity comparable to that of microcrystalline cellulose. The strength of dicalcium phosphate tablets is very low in comparison to those from microcrystalline cellulose.
This study is devoted to the degradation pathway (bio, photo degradation and photo/bio) of Poly(Lactic acid) PLA polymers by means of melt viscoelasticity. A comparison was made between three PLA polymers with different microstructures (L, D stereoisomers). Biodegradability was determined during composting by burying the polymer films in compost at 58 °C. Melt viscoelasticity was used to assess the molecular evolution of the materials during the composting process. Viscoelastic data were plotted in the complex plane. We used this methodology to check the kinetics of the molecular weight decrease during the initial stages of the degradation, through the evolution of Newtonian viscosity. After a few days in compost, the Newtonian viscosity decreased sharply, meaning that macromolecular chain scissions began at the beginning of the experiments. However, a double molar mass distribution was also observed on Cole⁻Cole plots, indicating that there is also a chain recombination mechanism competing with the chain scission mechanism. PLA hydrolysis was observed by infra-red spectroscopy, where acid characteristic peaks appeared and became more intense during experiments, confirming hydrolytic activity during the first step of biodegradation. During UV ageing, polymer materials undergo a deep molecular evolution. After photo-degradation, lower viscosities were measured during biodegradation, but no significant differences in composting were found.
Understanding the mechanics of the respiratory system is crucial for optimizing ventilator settings and ensuring patient safety. While simple models of the respiratory system typically consider only flow resistance and lung compliance, lung tissue resistance is usually neglected. This study investigated the effect of lung tissue viscoelasticity on delivered mechanical power in a physical model of the respiratory system and the possibility of distinguishing tissue resistance from airway resistance using proximal pressure measured at the airway opening. Three different configurations of a passive physical model of the respiratory system representing different mechanical properties (Tissue resistance model, Airway resistance model, and No-resistance model) were tested. The same volume-controlled ventilation and parameters were set for each configuration, with only the inspiratory flow rates being adjusted. Pressure and flow were measured with a Datex-Ohmeda S/5 vital signs monitor (Datex-Ohmeda, Madison, WI, USA). Tissue resistance was intentionally tuned so that peak pressures and delivered mechanical energy measured at airway opening were similar in Tissue and Airway Resistance models. However, measurements inside the artificial lung revealed significant differences, with Tissue resistance model yielding up to 20% higher values for delivered mechanical energy. The results indicate the need to revise current methods of calculating mechanical power delivery, which do not distinguish between tissue resistance and airway flow resistance, making it difficult to evaluate and interpret the significance of mechanical power delivery in terms of lung ventilation protectivity.
- MeSH
- Models, Biological * MeSH
- Respiratory System MeSH
- Humans MeSH
- Respiratory Mechanics MeSH
- Lung * physiology MeSH
- Lung Compliance MeSH
- Elasticity * MeSH
- Airway Resistance * MeSH
- Pressure MeSH
- Respiration, Artificial methods MeSH
- Viscosity MeSH
- Check Tag
- Humans MeSH
- Publication type
- Journal Article MeSH
Mechanical behavior of biological structures under dynamic loading generally depends on elastic as well as viscous properties of biological materials. The significance of "viscous" parameters in real situations remains to be elucidated. Behavior of rheological models consisting of a combination of inertial body and two Voigt's bodies were described mathematically with respect to inverse problem solution, and behavior in impulse and harmonic loadings was analyzed. Samples of walls of porcine and human aorta thoracica in transverse direction and samples of human bone (caput femoris, substantia compacta) were measured. Deformation responses of human skin in vivo were also measured. Values of elastic moduli of porcine aorta walls were in the interval from 10(2)kPa to 10(3) kPa, values of viscous coefficients were in the interval from 10(2) Pa.s to 10(3) Pa.s. The value of shear stress moduli of human caput femoris, substantia compacta range from 52.7 to 161.1 MPa, and viscous coefficients were in the interval from 27.3 to 98.9 kPa.s. The role of viscous coefficients is significant for relatively high loading frequencies - in our materials above 8 Hz in aorta walls and 5 Hz for bones. In bones, the viscosity reduced maximum deformation corresponding to short rectangular stress.
- MeSH
- Aorta, Thoracic physiology MeSH
- Models, Biological MeSH
- Adult MeSH
- Skin Physiological Phenomena * MeSH
- Bone and Bones physiology MeSH
- Middle Aged MeSH
- Humans MeSH
- Stress, Mechanical MeSH
- Elasticity MeSH
- Rheology MeSH
- Aged MeSH
- Sus scrofa MeSH
- Pressure MeSH
- Torque MeSH
- Viscosity MeSH
- Animals MeSH
- Check Tag
- Adult MeSH
- Middle Aged MeSH
- Humans MeSH
- Male MeSH
- Aged MeSH
- Female MeSH
- Animals MeSH
- Publication type
- Journal Article MeSH
A study of mechanical properties of native tissues is a great challenge in biomechanics. Especially, hardly accessible structures that play a very important role within a locomotive system. A study of a cartilaginous endplate (CEP) is just such a challenge. CEP is approximately 0.6 mm thin layer of hyaline cartilage between an intervertebral disc (IVD) and a vertebral body (VB). A calcification or any mechanical damage of CEP can cause restrictions of nutrition and metabolic waste flow inward and outward from IVD, respectively. Degenerative processes influence mechanical properties of the tissue. Due to very small thickness of CEP, instrumental nanoindentation seems to be suitable method for this task. This paper presents a study of time dependent viscoelastic properties of native porcine CEP using nanoscale dynamic mechanical analysis in the range of frequency from 5 Hz to 215 Hz. The storage moduli were obtained in the range from 11.78 MPa to 17.11 MPa. The loss moduli were obtained in the range from 2.96 MPa to 5.32 MPa.
- MeSH
- Total Disc Replacement MeSH
- Biomechanical Phenomena * MeSH
- Back Pain MeSH
- Intervertebral Disc Degeneration * MeSH
- Humans MeSH
- Mechanical Phenomena MeSH
- Tissues physiology MeSH
- Viscoelastic Substances * analysis therapeutic use MeSH
- Research Design MeSH
- Check Tag
- Humans MeSH
- Publication type
- Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't MeSH
