Rehabilitation Medicine Research Center, Mayo Clinic, 200 First Street SW, Rochester, MN 55905,
Eur Cell Mater. 2022 Apr 21;43:153-161. doi: 10.22203/eCM.v043a12.
The Achilles tendon is the strongest tendon in the human body but its mechanical behaviour during failure has been little studied and the basis of its high tensile strength has not been elucidated in detail. In the present study, healthy, human, Achilles tendons were loaded to failure in an anatomically authentic fashion while the local deformation and strains were studied in real time, with very high precision, using digital image correlation (DIC). The values determined for the strength of the Achilles tendon were at the high end of those reported in the literature, consistent with the absence of a pre-existing tendinopathy in the samples, as determined by careful gross inspection and histology. Early in the loading cycle, the proximal region of the tendon accumulated high lateral strains while longitudinal strains remained low. However, immediately before rupture, the mid-substance of the Achilles tendon, its weakest part, started to show high longitudinal strains. These new insights advance the understanding of the mechanical behaviour of tendons as they are stretched to failure.
跟腱是人体中最强壮的肌腱，但它在失效过程中的力学行为却很少被研究，其高强度的基础也没有被详细阐明。在本研究中，健康的人类跟腱以解剖学上真实的方式加载至失效，同时使用数字图像相关（DIC）技术以非常高的精度实时研究局部变形和应变。确定的跟腱强度值处于文献报道的较高端，与样本中没有预先存在的腱病一致，这是通过仔细的大体检查和组织学确定的。在加载周期的早期，肌腱的近端区域积累了很高的侧向应变，而纵向应变仍然很低。然而，就在断裂之前，跟腱的中间部分，即其最薄弱的部分，开始显示出很高的纵向应变。这些新的见解推进了对肌腱在拉伸至失效过程中的力学行为的理解。
