Ce. Miller et al., CHARACTERIZATION OF PASSIVE EMBRYONIC MYOCARDIUM BY QUASI-LINEAR VISCOELASTICITY THEORY, Journal of biomechanics, 30(9), 1997, pp. 985-988
The mechanical properties of embryonic cardiac tissue, an important li
nk between form and function, are largely unknown. This study provides
new information on the viscoelastic behavior of the stage-16 and stag
e-18 (21/2 and 3 d) chick ventricle. The cylindrical ventricles were r
emoved from the embryo, arrested in diastole, and mounted between two
small wires in a specially designed experimental workstation. After pr
econditioning, ramp-and-hold stress relaxation tests were performed at
10, 20 and 40% stretch. The resulting reduced relaxation functions we
re fit by graphical approach with a quasi-linear viscoelastic represen
tation. All functions were highly linear with natural log time between
1 and 60 s; mean slopes were -0.051 to -0.067. Other mean values were
: fast time constant tau(1), 0.037-0.052 s; slow time constant tau(2),
296-486 s; and final relaxation G(infinity), 0.38-0.59. There results
agree closely with those adult tissue. The differences in parameters
were not significant tither between stretch within stage or between st
ages at the same stretch level. An extrapolation/renormalization proce
dure increased agreement in slope between stretch levels but decreased
agreement in G(infinity). Events occurring on the short time scale ma
y represent extracellular fluid filtration while final relaxation may
be a function of true tissue viscoelasticity. These results will provi
de a baseline for extension to later developmental stages in cases of
both normal and altered growth. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd.