An investigation of the structure-function relationship in human cervical tissue

The cervix plays a crucial role in maintaining a healthy pregnancy, acting as a mechanical barrier to hold the fetus inside the uterus during gestation. Altered biochemical and mechanical properties of the cervical tissue are suspected to play an important role in spontaneous pre term birth. Slight changes in the biochemical properties are known to cause softening of the cervical tissue thus weakening the structure. Premature softening of the cervical tissue is associated with spontaneous pre term birth and the clinical condition known as cervical insufficiency. "Cervical insufficiency" is clinically defined as a history of spontaneous pre term birth associated with a painless contraction-free delivery. Diagnosing cervical insufficiency remains elusive in the medical community because the etiology of this disease is unknown. Therefore, there is a need to establish a better understanding of this disease to aid in the identification and management of patients. This doctoral study explores the relationship between the biochemical and mechanical properties of human cervical tissue. The structure-function relationship is investigated by measuring the stress-response of the tissue in various modes of deformation and assaying the tissue for biochemical content. To generate material properties which reflect the tissue's biochemical content, micro-structurally based constitutive relationships are fit to the experimental data from mechanical tests. Values of the constitutive model parameters corresponding to the best fit to the material response in all modes of deformation represent the "mechanical properties" of the sample. Mechanical properties and the structural properties of the collagen and proteoglycans of each sample are compared, and it was found that the mechanical and biochemical properties vary for women with different obstetric backgrounds.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Mechanical Engineering.

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2008

Author dc:creator

• Myers, Kristin M

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Simona Socrate.

• Mechanical Engineering.

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/44755

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/44755