Navarro-Lozoya Miriam, Kennedy Marian S, Dean Delphine, Rodriguez-Devora Jorge I
Department of Bioengineering, Clemson University, Clemson, SC.
Department of Materials Science & Engineering, Clemson University, Clemson, SC.
Materialia (Oxf). 2019 Dec;8. doi: 10.1016/j.mtla.2019.100438. Epub 2019 Aug 16.
There is a need to quantify and reproduce the mechanical behavior of brain tissue for a variety of applications from designing proper training models for surgeons to enabling research on the effectiveness of personal protective gear, such as football helmets. The mechanical response of several candidate phantom materials, including hydrogels and emulsions, was characterized and compared to porcine brain tissue under similar strains and strain rates. Some candidate materials were selected since their compositions were similar to brain tissue, such as emulsions that mimic the high content of lipids. Others, like silicone, were included since these are currently used as phantom materials. The mechanical response of the emulsion was closer to that of the native porcine brain tissue than the other candidates. The emulsions, created by addition of oil to a hydrogel, were able to withstand compressive strain greater than 40%. The addition of lipids in the emulsions also prevented the syneresis typically seen with hydrogel materials. This allowed the emulsion material to undergo freeze-thaw cycles with no significant change in their mechanical properties.
对于多种应用而言，需要对脑组织的力学行为进行量化和再现，这些应用包括为外科医生设计合适的训练模型，以及开展诸如橄榄球头盔等个人防护装备有效性的研究。对包括水凝胶和乳液在内的几种候选仿体材料的力学响应进行了表征，并在相似的应变和应变率下与猪脑组织进行了比较。选择一些候选材料是因为它们的成分与脑组织相似，例如模拟高脂质含量的乳液。其他材料，如硅酮，也被纳入其中，因为它们目前被用作仿体材料。乳液的力学响应比其他候选材料更接近天然猪脑组织。通过向水凝胶中添加油制成的乳液能够承受大于40%的压缩应变。乳液中脂质的添加还防止了水凝胶材料通常出现的脱水收缩现象。这使得乳液材料能够经受冻融循环而其力学性能没有显著变化。
