The Orthopedic Biomechanics Laboratory has more than 20 years of experience in material testing and tissue property characterization. Such studies have provided useful basic science information about normal and pathologic tissues of the musculoskeletal system. Our success has been driven by the quality and number of collaborators at the Mayo Clinic and the large number of research projects funded by NIH. Our expertise with material testing was recognized by the institution by establishing us as a Material Testing Core Facility, which is available to all investigators at Mayo. This grant application is submitted to request to request the purchase of a low-force material testing system (858 Mini Bionix, MTS, Minneapolis, MN). The current systems that we have are sub-optimal for the testing and detecting subtle changes in properties of soft tissues and small animal bones. We also request an environmental chamber to allow us to test materials in a controlled environment stimulating the in vivo condition Shared use of this equipment is planned at this time among eight investigators.
