engleski

Experimental Measurement of Mechanical Properties of Human Umbilical Vein

Human umbilical vein (HUV) can be used as a substitute for small caliber blod vessels (<6 mm). Although the first implantation of HUV for vascular reconstruction was in 1973., little information is available on its biomechanical properties. Three umbilical cords (UCs) were collected during spontaneous deliveries. The HUVs were prepared and carefully stripped form UCs. All HUVs were cut in 5 segments (~10 cm) and sent in saline solution for biomechanical testing. The placental end was treated as proximal and fetal as distal with medial segment between. The segments were tested on Universal Testing Machine. Segments were preconditioned with low forces (up to 2 N) to aline the fibers within the HUV and sprinkled with saline solution during the test. The results of the test were elongation of segments during the loading process and ultumate force, a force at which the rupture occured thus ending the test. A significant difference in mechanical properties was observed as proximal segments ruptured at ~75 N, while the distal segment ruptured at ~20 N, following a trend of softening when moving from placental side of HUV, corroborated by the medial segment rupture force of ~50 N. Elongation of the segments revealed a more complex hyperelastic behaviour as the proximal and medial segments showed similar elongation, ~66 mm, while the distal segments elongated ~38 mm indicating a need for further testing in order to distinguish the barier between distal and proximal parts of HUV. HUV does not express uniform properties along its full length which underlines a necessity for further mechanical testing.

Umbilical vein ; Mechanical properties ; Hyperelastic

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