TY - JOUR A1 - Nguyen, Nhu Huynh A1 - Duong, Minh Tuan A1 - Tran, Thanh Ngoc A1 - Pham, Phu Tinh A1 - Grottke, O. A1 - Tolba, R. A1 - Staat, Manfred T1 - Influence of a freeze–thaw cycle on the stress–stretch curves of tissues of porcine abdominal organs T2 - Journal of Biomechanics N2 - The paper investigates both fresh porcine spleen and liver and the possible decomposition of these organs under a freeze–thaw cycle. The effect of tissue preservation condition is an important factor which should be taken into account for protracted biomechanical tests. In this work, tension tests were conducted for a large number of tissue specimens from twenty pigs divided into two groups of 10. Concretely, the first group was tested in fresh state; the other one was tested after a freeze-thaw cycle which simulates the conservation conditions before biomechanical experiments. A modified Fung model for isotropic behavior was adopted for the curve fitting of each kind of tissues. Experimental results show strong effects of the realistic freeze–thaw cycle on the capsule of elastin-rich spleen but negligible effects on the liver which virtually contains no elastin. This different behavior could be explained by the autolysis of elastin by elastolytic enzymes during the warmer period after thawing. Realistic biomechanical properties of elastin-rich organs can only be expected if really fresh tissue is tested. The observations are supported by tests of intestines. KW - Autolysis KW - Decomposition KW - Freeze–thaw process KW - Spleen KW - Liver Y1 - 2012 UR - https://opus.bibliothek.fh-aachen.de/opus4/frontdoor/index/index/docId/4812 SN - 1873-2380 VL - 45 IS - 14 SP - 2382 EP - 2386 PB - Elsevier CY - Amsterdam ER -