Purpose: Spinal dura mater plays a crucial role in the biomechanics and protection of the spine. Therefore, the present study investigated the dura mater's mechanical and basic morphological properties to learn more about the biomechanical behaviour of this fibrous membrane.
Methods: Tissue strips, oriented in the longitudinal and circumferential directions, were cut from the cervical, thoracic, and lumbar vertebrae parts of the porcine spinal cord. Uniaxial tensile tests were performed using a device with a speed of 4 mm/min until rupture of the sample.
Results: It was demonstrated that the dura mater is a heterogeneous, anisotropic material. The longitudinal excised specimens showed the highest values of mechanical properties (ultimate force (FU), the stiffness coefficient (k), ultimate tensile strength (σUTS), and Young's modulus (E)) compared to those of the circumferentially. Confocal microscopy and sulforhodamine B (SRB) assay enabled us to visualise collagen and elastin elements more efficiently without a need for sample fixation.
Conclusions: The spinal dura mater mechanical properties are not uniform along the entire length of the spinal cord, but, in the case of morphological features, no major differences were noticed. The utilisation of SRB occurred to be a non-destructive, fast, and efficient tool for visualising even the smallest elastic fibres on different depths of examined samples. The mechanical and morphological properties of the dura mater provided by this study can be further used in computational modelling to understand injury mechanisms better and help develop injury prevention strategies.