Evaluation of Human Nasal Cartilage Nonlinear and Rate Dependent Mechanical Properties

Nasal reconstruction frequently requires donor cartilage and tissue, and ideally, donor tissue will closely emulate native nasal cartilage mechanics. Tissue engineering scaffolds, especially 3D printed scaffolds, have been proposed for nasal reconstruction, and the success of these constructs may depend on how well scaffolds reflect native nasal cartilage mechanical properties. Therefore, consistent and comprehensive characterization of native nasal cartilage mechanical properties is a foundation for nasal cartilage tissue engineering and reconstruction in general by providing design targets for reconstructive materials. Our group has previously shown the feasibility of producing scaffolds with porous architecture permitting chondrocyte growth and cartilage production. In this study, we determined the nonlinear and stress relaxation behavior of human nasal cartilage under unconfined compression. We then fit this experimental data to nonlinear elastic, nonlinear viscoelastic and nonlinear biphasic constitutive models. The resulting coefficients will provide design targets for nasal reconstruction and scaffold design as well as outcome measures for assessment of tissue engineered nasal cartilage.