Mechanical properties of human spinal dura mater show rate dependency

Mechanical properties of human spinal dura mater show rate dependency

Abstract The spinal dura mater is a tough membrane protecting the spinal cord. Its mechanical response, particularly under dynamic loading conditions (e.g., during vehicular collisions), can lead to severe medical complications. However, the mechanical properties of the dura mater across various str...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Tomasz Wiczenbach, Radosław Wolny, Dawid Bruski, Karol Daszkiewicz, Wiktoria Kolczyk, Jan Henryk Spodnik, Ilya Krypets, Lukasz Pachocki
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Nature Portfolio 2025-07-01
Series:Scientific Reports
Subjects:
Human spinal dura mater
Strain‑rate dependent mechanical properties
Constitutive modelling
Visco-hyperelastic
Spinal biomechanics
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-08471-8
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Summary:Abstract The spinal dura mater is a tough membrane protecting the spinal cord. Its mechanical response, particularly under dynamic loading conditions (e.g., during vehicular collisions), can lead to severe medical complications. However, the mechanical properties of the dura mater across various strain rates as well as a sufficiently accurate material model to analyze its behavior remain underexplored. This study presents the results of uniaxial tensile tests conducted on spinal dura mater samples obtained from six donors (mean age 79.33 with standard deviation of 6.44), performed at strain rates of 0.5, 10, and 25 s⁻¹. The experiments utilized a custom-built uniaxial testing machine. The test enabled the determination of ultimate tensile strength, stretch at failure, and elastic modulus. The findings reveal an increase in the elastic modulus at higher loading rates, underscoring the significant rate dependence of the dura mater’s behavior. Furthermore, a visco-hyperelastic constitutive model with validated material parameters is proposed, offering essential input for improving finite element simulations with dynamic spinal loadings analysis. Employing this model can facilitate more accurate predictions of spinal cord injury mechanisms and support the development of more effective automotive and road safety systems.
ISSN:2045-2322

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