An ionised/non-ionised dual porosity model of intervertebral disc tissue

J.M. Huyghe*, G.B. Houben, W.A. Bemelman, C.C. van Donkelaar

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

Abstract

An ionised/non-ionised dual porosity model of intervertebral disc tissue.

Huyghe JM, Houben GB, Drost MR, van Donkelaar CC.

Engineering Mechanics Institute, Eindhoven University of Technology, Eindhoven, The Netherlands. [email protected]

The volume of the intrafibrillar water space--i.e. the water contained inside the collagen fibres--is a key parameter that is relevant to concepts of connective tissue structure and function. Confined compression and swelling experiments on annulus fibrosus samples are interpreted in terms of a dual porosity model that distinguishes between a non-ionised intrafibrillar porosity and an ionised extrafibrillar porosity. Both porosities intercommunicate and are saturated with a monovalent ionic solution, i.c. NaCl. The extrafibrillar fixed charge density of the samples is assessed using radiotracer techniques and the collagen content is evaluated by measurement of hydroxyproline concentration. The interpretation of the experimental data yields values for the intrafibrillar water content, the average activity coefficient of the ions, the Donnan osmotic coefficient, the fraction of intrafibrillar water, the stress-free deformation state, and an effective stress-strain relationship as a function of the radial position in the disc. A linear fit between the second Piola-Kirchhoff effective stress and Green-Lagrange strain yielded an effective stiffness: H(e)=1.087 +/- 0.657 MPa. The average fraction of intrafibrillar water was 1.16 g/g collagen. The results were sensitive to changes in the activity and osmotic coefficients and the fraction of intrafibrillar water. The fixed charge density increased with distance from the outer edge of the annulus, whereas the hydroxyproline decreased
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)3-19
Number of pages16
JournalBiomechanics and modeling in mechanobiology
Volume2
Issue number1
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Jan 2003

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'An ionised/non-ionised dual porosity model of intervertebral disc tissue'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this