title: Mechanical properties of the rotator cuff: response to cyclic loading at varying abduction angles.
abstract: The rotator cuff is loaded under static as well as dynamic conditions. Whilst the static properties of the rotator cuff muscle-tendon junctions have been reported, the dynamic mechanical behaviour has not. This study reports the dynamic mechanical properties with varying abduction angles in a human cadaver rotator cuff. No significant effect was found with varying the angle of testing or in the presence of a tear in the tendon. The supraspinatus was found to be the stiffest of the rotator cuff tendons followed by the subscapularis and infraspinatus.
authors.affiliation: Orthopaedic Research Laboratories, Division of Surgery, Edmund Blacket Building, Prince of Wales Hospital, University of New South Wales, 2031 Randwick, Sydney, Australia.
authors.forename: E J
authors.initials: EJ
authors.lastname: Nightingale
authors.forename: C P
authors.initials: CP
authors.lastname: Allen
authors.forename: D H
authors.initials: DH
authors.lastname: Sonnabend
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Goldberg
authors.forename: W R
authors.initials: WR
authors.lastname: Walsh
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001696:Biomechanical Phenomena; D002102:Cadaver; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D016059:Range of Motion, Articular / Q000502:physiology*; D017006:Rotator Cuff / Q000502:physiology*; D013314:Stress, Mechanical; D013718:Tensile Strength / Q000502:physiology