Lasers in Surgery and Medicine 32:271–278 (2003) Characterization of Temperature Dependent Mechanical Behavior of Cartilage

Background and Objectives: Few quantitative studies have investigated the temperature dependent viscoelastic properties of cartilage tissue. Cartilage softens and can be reshaped when heated using laser, RF, or contact heating sources. The objectives of this study were to: (1) measure temperature dependent flexural storage moduli and mech-anical relaxation in cartilage, (2) determine the impact of tissue water content and orientation on these mechanical properties, and (3) use these measurements to estimate the activation energy associated with the mechanical relaxa-tion process. Study Design/Materials and Methods: Porcine nasal septal cartilage specimens (30 10 2 mm) were deformed using a single cantilever arrangement in a dynamic thermomechanical analyzer. Stress relaxation measure