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Microstructure and Biomechanical Behavior of Living Tissues
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Microstructure and Biomechanical Behavior of Living Tissues

A special issue of Materials (ISSN 1996-1944). This special issue belongs to the section "Biomaterials".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (20 July 2023) | Viewed by 6712

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Thierry Hoc

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
1. Researchers Laboratory of Osteoarticular Biology, Bioengineering and Bioimaging, Université de Paris, Paris, France
2. Professor, Mechanical Engineering, Ecole Centrale de Lyon, Ecully, France
Interests: mechanics of materials; osteoarticular and connective tissues pathologies; multiscale modeling; material characterization

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Living tissues’ composition and organization at the micrometer scale provide them with exceptional biomechanical properties. In particular, connective tissues composed mainly of collagen fibers interact—depending on the type of tissue—with elastin fibers, minerals, the extracellular matrix, etc., and possess mechanical properties that are very sensitive to changes in their microstructure, which occur with aging or in connection with a pathology. Recent developments in in vivo and in vitro bioimaging techniques now allow for a fine quantification of this microstructure. In addition, the mechanical properties of these tissues are now accessible for research at different space and time scales.

This Special Issue, "Microstructure and biomechanical behavior of living tissues", will highlight the most recent discoveries and advances in all scientific areas related to living materials with applications in medicine and biology. This Special Issue will particularly focus on the relationship between the microstructure and biomechanical response of connective tissues, such as bone, cartilage, ligament, skin, arteries, muscle, fibrous soft tissues, etc. Topics of interest include, but are not limited to, microstructure characterization, biomechanical testing, bioimaging, effects of aging and pathological conditions. We are inviting original reviews and research articles on this topic from research groups around the world to encourage the dissemination of scientific knowledge in an open access format. Researchers working in the area of multiscale characterization and/or the mechanical behavior of living tissues are encouraged to publish their recent results in this Special Issue of Materials.

Prof. Dr. Thierry Hoc
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Materials is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • living tissues
  • bioimaging (multiphoton, scanner, MRI…)
  • biomechanics (elasticity, viscoelasticity, poroelasticty…)
  • aging
  • microstructure
  • pathological tissue
  • microdamage
  • chemical material characterization
  • multiscale modeling
  • indentation, creep and relaxation tests

Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

15 pages, 1798 KiB  
Article
A New Microarchitecture-Based Parameter to Predict the Micromechanical Properties of Bone Allografts
by Zhuang Xiong, Léa Rouquier, Christine Chappard, Manon Bachy, Xingrong Huang, Esther Potier, Morad Bensidhoum and Thierry Hoc
Materials 2023, 16(9), 3349; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma16093349 - 25 Apr 2023
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1609
Abstract
Scaffolds are an essential component of bone tissue engineering. They provide support and create a physiological environment for cells to proliferate and differentiate. Bone allografts extracted from human donors are promising scaffolds due to their mechanical and structural characteristics. Bone microarchitecture is well [...] Read more.
Scaffolds are an essential component of bone tissue engineering. They provide support and create a physiological environment for cells to proliferate and differentiate. Bone allografts extracted from human donors are promising scaffolds due to their mechanical and structural characteristics. Bone microarchitecture is well known to be an important determinant of macroscopic mechanical properties, but its role at the microscopic, i.e., the trabeculae level is still poorly understood. The present study investigated linear correlations between microarchitectural parameters obtained from X-ray computed tomography (micro-CT) images of bone allografts, such as bone volume fraction (BV/TV), degree of anisotropy (DA), or ellipsoid factor (EF), and micromechanical parameters derived from micro-finite element calculations, such as mean axial strain (εz) and strain energy density (We). DAEF, a new parameter based on a linear combination of the two microarchitectural parameters DA and EF, showed a strong linear correlation with the bone mechanical characteristics at the microscopic scale. Our results concluded that the spatial distribution and the plate-and-rod structure of trabecular bone are the main determinants of the mechanical properties of bone at the microscopic level. The DAEF parameter could, therefore, be used as a tool to predict the level of mechanical stimulation at the local scale, a key parameter to better understand and optimize the mechanism of osteogenesis in bone tissue engineering. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Microstructure and Biomechanical Behavior of Living Tissues)
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12 pages, 4364 KiB  
Article
Quantification of Microstructural Changes in the Dermis of Elderly Women Using Morphometric Indices of the Skin Surface
by Manon Bachy, Catherine Bosser, Benoît Villain and Jean-Charles Aurégan
Materials 2022, 15(22), 8258; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma15228258 - 21 Nov 2022
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1412
Abstract
Objective: The main objective of this study was the development of a non-invasive mathematical marker of the skin surface, the characteristic length, to predict the microstructure of the dermis. This marker, at the individual level, is intended to provide the biological age of [...] Read more.
Objective: The main objective of this study was the development of a non-invasive mathematical marker of the skin surface, the characteristic length, to predict the microstructure of the dermis. This marker, at the individual level, is intended to provide the biological age of the patient in the context of personalised medicine for the elderly. Study design: To validate this hypothesis, a clinical study was conducted on 22 women over 60 years old from a population of osteoporotic subjects who sustained a femoral neck fracture: a morphological analysis of the skin surface was performed on the patient’s forearm and quantitatively compared with microarchitectural parameters of the dermis. Major results: The Elastin-to-Collagen ratio measured on dermis samples ranged between 0.007 and 0.084, with a mean of 0.035 ± 0.02. The surface characteristic length ranged between 0.90 and 2.621, with a mean of 0.64 ± 0.51. A very strong correlation was found between this characteristic length and the Elastin-to-Collagen ratio (r = 0.92). Conclusions: This study proposes an original diagnostic tool based on morphometric indices of the skin surface and shows a direct quantitative relationship with the dermis microarchitecture and its collagen and elastin content. The proposed method allows reliable and easy access to the intrinsic ageing of the dermis, which would be a strong biomarker in a personalised collagen treatment approach. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Microstructure and Biomechanical Behavior of Living Tissues)
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24 pages, 4979 KiB  
Article
Multiscale Femoral Neck Imaging and Multimodal Trabeculae Quality Characterization in an Osteoporotic Bone Sample
by Enrico Soldati, Flavy Roseren, Daphne Guenoun, Lucia Mancini, Emilio Catelli, Silvia Prati, Giorgia Sciutto, Jerome Vicente, Stefano Iotti, David Bendahan, Emil Malucelli and Martine Pithioux
Materials 2022, 15(22), 8048; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma15228048 - 14 Nov 2022
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1764
Abstract
Although multiple structural, mechanical, and molecular factors are definitely involved in osteoporosis, the assessment of subregional bone mineral density remains the most commonly used diagnostic index. In this study, we characterized bone quality in the femoral neck of one osteoporotic patients as compared [...] Read more.
Although multiple structural, mechanical, and molecular factors are definitely involved in osteoporosis, the assessment of subregional bone mineral density remains the most commonly used diagnostic index. In this study, we characterized bone quality in the femoral neck of one osteoporotic patients as compared to an age-matched control subject, and so used a multiscale and multimodal approach including X-ray computed microtomography at different spatial resolutions (pixel size: 51.0, 4.95 and 0.9 µm), microindentation and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. Our results showed abnormalities in the osteocytes lacunae volume (358.08 ± 165.00 for the osteoporotic sample vs. 287.10 ± 160.00 for the control), whereas a statistical difference was found neither for shape nor for density. The osteoporotic femoral head and great trochanter reported reduced elastic modulus (Es) and hardness (H) compared to the control reference (−48% (p < 0.0001) and −34% (p < 0.0001), respectively for Es and H in the femoral head and −29% (p < 0.01) and −22% (p < 0.05), respectively for Es and H in the great trochanter), whereas the corresponding values in the femoral neck were in the same range. The spectral analysis could distinguish neither subregional differences in the osteoporotic sample nor between the osteoporotic and healthy samples. Although, infrared spectroscopic measurements were comparable among subregions, and so regardless of the bone osteoporotic status, the trabecular mechanical properties were comparable only in the femoral neck. These results illustrate that bone remodeling in osteoporosis is a non-uniform process with different rates in different bone anatomical regions, hence showing the interest of a clear analysis of the bone microarchitecture in the case of patients’ osteoporotic evaluation. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Microstructure and Biomechanical Behavior of Living Tissues)
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19 pages, 5659 KiB  
Article
Mechanical Characterization at the Microscale of Mineralized Bone Callus after Bone Lengthening
by Flavy Roseren, Sandrine Roffino and Martine Pithioux
Materials 2022, 15(18), 6207; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma15186207 - 7 Sep 2022
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1221
Abstract
Distraction osteogenesis (DO) involves several processes to form an organized distracted callus. While bone regeneration during DO has been widely described, no study has yet focused on the evolution profile of mechanical properties of mineralized tissues in the distracted callus. The aim of [...] Read more.
Distraction osteogenesis (DO) involves several processes to form an organized distracted callus. While bone regeneration during DO has been widely described, no study has yet focused on the evolution profile of mechanical properties of mineralized tissues in the distracted callus. The aim of this study was therefore to measure the elastic modulus and hardness of calcified cartilage and trabecular and cortical bone within the distracted callus during the consolidation phase. We used a microindentation assay to measure the mechanical properties of periosteal and endosteal calluses; each was subdivided into two regions. Histological sections were used to localize the tissues. The results revealed that the mechanical properties of calcified cartilage did not evolve over time. However, trabecular bone showed temporal variation. For elastic modulus, in three out of four regions, a similar evolution profile was observed with an increase and decrease over time. Concerning hardness, this evolves differently depending on the location in the distracted callus. We also observed spatial changes in between regions. A first duality was apparent between regions close to the native cortices and the central area, while latter differences were seen between periosteal and endosteal calluses. Data showed a heterogeneity of mechanical properties in the distracted callus with a specific mineralization profile. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Microstructure and Biomechanical Behavior of Living Tissues)
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