title: Elastic properties and yield stress of fetal membranes.
abstract: This is a presentation of a biomechanics project from almost 30 years ago, that, despite the long delay, is both relevant today and may be interesting from a historical perspective. Premature rupture of the amniotic sac membranes enclosing the fetus is, as yet, a not fully understood process, but may related to the mechanical properties of those membranes. The late biomechanics pioneer Tom McMahon and I developed a method for testing the yield stress of fetal membranes and found it to be homogeneous throughout individual samples. The method was: 1. insensitive to initial stretch, 2. avoided damaging contact with the membrane during stress-testing, and 3. modeled the mechanical properties using a power-law relationship. Because the clinical samples were from normal deliveries, clinical correlation remains as an unfinished aim of this project.
authors.affiliation: Dept of Veterans Affairs VAMCHS, University of Maryland, Baltimore, MD, USA. gwittenb@grecc.umaryland.edu
authors.forename: George F
authors.initials: GF
authors.lastname: Wittenberg
mesh_terms: D019245:Compressive Strength / Q000502:physiology; D003198:Computer Simulation; D055119:Elastic Modulus / Q000502:physiology; D005321:Extraembryonic Membranes / Q000502:physiology*; D006244:Hardness / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D008954:Models, Biological; D013314:Stress, Mechanical; D013718:Tensile Strength / Q000502:physiology