Abstract
Optical methods are becoming commonplace in investigations of the
physical and mechanical behavior of biological tissues. Digital image
correlation (DIC) is a versatile optical method that shows tremendous
promise for applications involving biological tissues and biomaterials.
We present the fundamentals of DIC with an emphasis on the application
to biological materials. An approach for surface preparation is described
that facilitates its application to hydrated substrates. Three examples
are presented that highlight the use of DIC for biomedical research.
The first example describes the use of DIC to study the mechanical
behavior of arterial tissues up to 40%elongation. The second example
describes an evaluation of the mechanical properties of bovine hoof
horn in the dehydrated and fully hydrated states. Uniaxial tension
experiments are performed to determine the elastic modulus (E) and
Poisson's ratio () of both the arterial and dermal tissues. Spatial
variations in the mechanical properties are evident from the full-field
characterization of both tissues. Finally,an application of DIC to
study the evolution of loosening in cemented total hip replacements
is described. The noncontact analysis enables measurement of the
relative displacement between the bone/bone cement and bone cement/prosthesis
interfaces. Based on the elementary optical arrangement,the simple
surface preparation,and the ability to acquire displacement/strain
measurements over a large range of deformation,DIC should serve as
a valuable tool for biomedical research. Further developments will
enable the use of DIC for in vivo applications.
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