Non-Invasive Measurement of In-Vivo Elasticity of Skeletal Muscles with MR-Elastography

2007 ◽  
Vol 342-343 ◽  
pp. 901-904
Author(s):  
Yu Bong Kang ◽  
T. Oida ◽  
Duk Young Jung ◽  
A. Fukuma ◽  
T. Azuma ◽  
...  

In order to evaluate the mechanical properties of the human skeletal muscles, the elasticity and viscosity of the human calf muscles were measured with Magnetic Resonance Elastography (MRE). MRE is a novel method to measure the mechanical properties of living soft tissues in vivo quantitatively by observing the strain waves propagated in the object. In this study, the shear modulus and viscosity coefficient were measured with MRE. The shear modulus was 3.7 kPa in relaxed state, and increased with increasing the muscle forces. Interestingly, the viscosity was changed with the vibration frequency applied to the muscles, that was 4.5 Pa·s at 100Hz vibration and 2.4 Pa·s at 200Hz vibration. This shows clearly the visco-elastic property.

Author(s):  
Yu Bong Kang ◽  
T. Oida ◽  
Duk Young Jung ◽  
A. Fukuma ◽  
T. Azuma ◽  
...  

Author(s):  
Daniel H. Cortes ◽  
Lachlan J. Smith ◽  
Sung M. Moon ◽  
Jeremy F. Magland ◽  
Alexander C. Wright ◽  
...  

Intervertebral disc degeneration is characterized by a progressive cascade of structural, biochemical and biomechanical changes affecting the annulus fibrosus (AF), nucleus pulposus (NP) and end plates (EP). These changes are considered to contribute to the onset of back pain. It has been shown that mechanical properties of the AF and NP change significantly with degeneration [1,2]. Therefore, mechanical properties have the potential to serve as a biomarker for diagnosis of disc degeneration. Currently, disc degeneration is diagnosed based on the detection of structural and compositional changes using MRI, X-ray, discography and other imaging techniques. These methods, however, do not measure directly the mechanical properties of the extracellular matrix of the disc. Magnetic Resonance Elastography (MRE) is a technique that has been used to measure in vivo mechanical properties of soft tissue by applying a mechanical vibration and measuring displacements with a motion-sensitized MRI pulse sequence [3]. The mechanical properties (e.g., the shear modulus) are calculated from the displacement field using an inverse method. Since the applied displacements are in the order of few microns, fibers may not be stretched enough to remove crimping. Therefore, it is unknown if the anisotropy of the AF due to the contribution of the fibers is detectable using MRE. The objective of this study is twofold: to measure shear properties of AF in different orientations to determine the degree of AF anisotropy observable by MRE, and to identify the contribution of different AF constituents to the measured shear modulus by applying different biochemical treatments.


2017 ◽  
Vol 1 (3) ◽  
pp. 100-111
Author(s):  
Anup D. Pant ◽  
Larry Kagemann ◽  
Joel S. Schuman ◽  
Ian A. Sigal ◽  
Rouzbeh Amini

Aim/Purpose: Previous studies have shown that the trabecular meshwork (TM) is mechanically stiffer in glaucomatous eyes as compared to normal eyes. It is believed that elevated TM stiffness increases resistance to the aqueous humor outflow, producing increased intraocular pressure (IOP).It would be advantageous to measure TM mechanical properties in vivo, as these properties are believed to play an important role in the pathophysiology of glaucoma and could be useful for identifying potential risk factors.  The purpose of this study was to develop a method to estimate in-vivo TM mechanical properties using clinically available exams and computer simulations.Design: Inverse finite element simulationMethods: A finite element model of the TM was constructed from optical coherence tomography (OCT) images of a healthy volunteer before and during IOP elevation. An axisymmetric model of the TM was then constructed. Images of the TM at a baseline IOP level of 11, and elevated level of 23 mmHg were treated as the undeformed and deformed configurations, respectively. An inverse modeling technique was subsequently used to estimate the TM shear modulus (G). An optimization technique was used to find the shear modulus that minimized the difference between Schlemm’s canal area in the in-vivo images and simulations.Results: Upon completion of inverse finite element modeling, the simulated area of the Schlemm’s canal changed from 8,889 μm2 to 2,088 μm2, similar to the experimentally measured areal change of the canal (from 8,889 μm2 to 2,100 μm2). The calculated value of shear modulus was found to be 1.93 kPa,  (implying an approximate Young’s modulus of 5.75 kPa), which is consistent with previous ex-vivo measurements.Conclusion: The combined imaging and computational simulation technique provides a unique approach to calculate the mechanical properties of the TM in vivo without any surgical intervention. Quantification of such mechanical properties will help us examine the mechanistic role of TM biomechanics in the regulation of IOP in healthy and glaucomatous eyes. 


2007 ◽  
Vol 342-343 ◽  
pp. 853-856 ◽  
Author(s):  
Duk Young Jung ◽  
Yu Bong Kang ◽  
Toshie Tsuchiya ◽  
Sadami Tsutsumi

Accurate measurement of the mechanical properties of artificial or cultivated cartilage is a major factor for determining successive regeneration of defective soft tissues. In this study, we developed a novel method that enabled the bulk modulus (k-modulus) to be measured nondestructively using the relationship between volume and pressure of living soft tissues. In order to validate this method we estimated the bulk modulus of soft silicone rubbers using our new method and a conventional method. The results showed a 5 ~ 10% difference between the results obtained with the two methods. Our method was used subsequently to measure the mechanical properties of cultivated cartilage samples (collagen gel type), that had been incubated for four weeks in the presence or absence of human articular chondrocytes (HACs). Our experiments showed that cultivated cartilage tissues grown in the presence of HACs had a higher bulk modulus (120 ± 20 kPa) than samples grown without HACs (90 ± 15 kPa). The results indicated that our novel method offered an effective method for measurement of volume changes in minute living soft tissues, with the measurements having a high degree of accuracy and precision. Furthermore, this method has significant advantages over conventional approaches as it can be used to rapidly and accurately evaluate the strength of soft tissues during cultivation without causing damage to the specimen.


Author(s):  
Ming Jia ◽  
Jean W. Zu ◽  
Alireza Hariri

Knowledge of tissue mechanical properties is widely required by medical applications, such as disease diagnostics, surgery operation, simulation, planning, and training. A new portable device, called Tissue Resonator Indenter Device (TRID), has been developed for measurement of regional viscoelastic properties of soft tissues at the Bio-instrument and Biomechanics Lab of the University of Toronto. As a device for soft tissue properties in-vivo measurements, the reliability of TRID is crucial. This paper presents TRID’s working principle and the experimental study of TRID’s reliability with respect to inter-reliability, intra-reliability, and the indenter misalignment effect as well. The experimental results show that TRID is a reliable device for in-vivo measurements of soft tissue mechanical properties.


2009 ◽  
Vol 58 (9) ◽  
pp. 3079-3085 ◽  
Author(s):  
Min-Hua Lu ◽  
W. Yu ◽  
Qing-Hua Huang ◽  
Yan-Ping Huang ◽  
Yong-Ping Zheng

2021 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
pp. 109
Author(s):  
Tobias C Wood ◽  
Diana Cash ◽  
Eilidh MacNicol ◽  
Camilla Simmons ◽  
Eugene Kim ◽  
...  

Malfunctions of oxygen metabolism are suspected to play a key role in a number of neurological and psychiatric disorders, but this hypothesis cannot be properly investigated without an in-vivo non-invasive measurement of brain oxygen consumption. We present a new way to measure the Cerebral Metabolic Rate of Oxygen (CMRO2) by combining two existing magnetic resonance imaging techniques, namely arterial spin-labelling and oxygen extraction fraction mapping. This method was validated by imaging rats under different anaesthetic regimes and was strongly correlated to glucose consumption measured by autoradiography.


Sensors ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (8) ◽  
pp. 2379 ◽  
Author(s):  
Guillermo Rus ◽  
Inas H. Faris ◽  
Jorge Torres ◽  
Antonio Callejas ◽  
Juan Melchor

The adoption of multiscale approaches by the biomechanical community has caused a major improvement in quality in the mechanical characterization of soft tissues. The recent developments in elastography techniques are enabling in vivo and non-invasive quantification of tissues’ mechanical properties. Elastic changes in a tissue are associated with a broad spectrum of pathologies, which stems from the tissue microstructure, histology and biochemistry. This knowledge is combined with research evidence to provide a powerful diagnostic range of highly prevalent pathologies, from birth and labor disorders (prematurity, induction failures, etc.), to solid tumors (e.g., prostate, cervix, breast, melanoma) and liver fibrosis, just to name a few. This review aims to elucidate the potential of viscous and nonlinear elastic parameters as conceivable diagnostic mechanical biomarkers. First, by providing an insight into the classic role of soft tissue microstructure in linear elasticity; secondly, by understanding how viscosity and nonlinearity could enhance the current diagnosis in elastography; and finally, by compounding preliminary investigations of those elastography parameters within different technologies. In conclusion, evidence of the diagnostic capability of elastic parameters beyond linear stiffness is gaining momentum as a result of the technological and imaging developments in the field of biomechanics.


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