Localized strain measurements of the intervertebral disc annulus during biaxial tensile testing

Both inter-lamellar and intra-lamellar failures of the annulus have been described as potential modes of disc herniation. Attempts to characterize initial lamellar failure of the annulus have involved tensile testing of small tissue samples. The purpose of this study was to evaluate a method of measuring local surface strains through image analysis of a tensile test conducted on an isolated sample of annular tissue in order to enhance future studies of intervertebral disc failure. An annulus tissue sample was biaxial strained to 10%. High-resolution images captured the tissue surface throughout testing. Three test conditions were evaluated: submerged, non-submerged and marker. Surface strains were calculated for the two non-marker conditions based on motion of virtual tracking points. Tracking algorithm parameters (grid resolution and template size) were varied to determine the effect on estimated strains. Accuracy of point tracking was assessed through a comparison of the non-marker conditions to a condition involving markers placed on tissue surface. Grid resolution had a larger effect on local strain than template size. Average local strain error ranged from 3% to 9.25% and 0.1% to 2.0%, for the non-submerged and submerged conditions, respectively. Local strain estimation has a relatively high potential for error. Submerging the tissue provided superior strain estimates.