Authors: Kristin M. Dunford and Andrew R. Kemper—Virginia Tech-Wake Forest University, Center for Injury Biomechanics; Tanya LeRoith—Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to quantify the effects of postmortem degradation on the tensile material properties of bovine liver parenchyma when stored in DMEM or saline. Fourteen fresh bovine livers were obtained from a local slaughter house and stored in either DMEM or saline as large blocks, small blocks, or slices of tissue. Multiple parenchyma dog-bone samples from each liver were tested once to failure at three time points: ~6hrs, 24hrs, and 48hrs postmortem. The results showed that the failure strain decreased significantly between 6hrs and 48hrs after death when stored as large blocks in saline, while the cellular disruption increased. Preliminary results indicated that reducing the tissue storage size had a negative effect on the material properties and cellular architecture for both fluid types. Overall, this study illustrated that the effects of postmortem liver degradation varied with respect to the preservation fluid, storage time, and storage block size.
Pages: 3
Event: 61st Stapp Car Crash Conference
Type: Short Communication