Characterization of Regional Mechanical Property Anomalies in Tensile Test Specimens

This study demonstrated that regional mechanical property anomalies within soft biological tissues can be detected using high-resolution strain mapping during biaxial tensile testing. Using bovine peritoneum as a model tissue, the authors showed that localized structures such as blood vessels produce pronounced regional strain variations, with local strains up to three times greater than surrounding tissue. Analyses assuming uniform strain across the specimen were shown to produce substantially erroneous stress–strain relationships. The findings highlight the importance of spatially resolved mechanical measurements for accurate characterization of heterogeneous biological tissues and for validating tensile test results.