A device to measure the cross-sectional area of soft connective tissues

A device has been designed and fabricated to measure the cross-sectional area of soft connective tissues ex vivo. It consists of two displacement transducers: one sensing tissue thickness and the other sensing width. Outputs are recorded (via an analog to digital interface) using a personal computer. Numerical integration of a thickness versus width plot computes cross-sectional area. This plot also provides a quality check of acquired data. The data were successfully used in biomechanical studies of rabbit patellar tendons, rat medial collateral ligaments, and dissected specimens of human fascia.<
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