Soft Tissues

Question 1

What are the three primary load bearing connective tissues?

Answer 1

• Tendon
• Ligament
• Cartilage

Question 2

What three basic structures are the three primary tissues composed of?

Answer 2

• Collagen
• Elastin
• Proteoglycans

Question 3

What are the three main fibre arrangements in soft tissue?

Answer 3

• Parallel
• Crossed
• felt-like

Question 4

What do soft tissues exhibit as a result of internal energy losses?

Answer 4

Hysteresis

Question 5

Under constant strain, soft tissues experience:

Answer 5

Stress relaxation

Question 6

Under constant stress, soft tissues experience:

Answer 6

Creep

Question 7

List two functions of a tendon

Answer 7

• Connects muscle to bone

- transmits contracting forces to bone

Question 8

What protects a tendon in sharp bending areas?

Answer 8

Tendon sheath

Question 9

List three things about tendon structure

Answer 9

• Densely packed collagen fibres
• Low elastin content
• Uniaxial fibre orientation

Question 10

What is the max allowed strain of load bearing tendons?

Answer 10

10%

Question 11

Tendons have one of the _____ tensile strengths of any soft tissue

Answer 11

Highest

Question 12

Tendons experience a _______ hysteresis

Answer 12

Small

Question 13

What soft tissue is this the typical stress-strain graph for?

Answer 13

Tendon

Question 14

List two ligament functions

Answer 14

• Bone to bone connectors

- Stabilise joints

Question 15

List three points of ligament structure

Answer 15

• Less densely packed collagen fibres
• Slightly higher elastin content than tendon
• Flattened cross-section

Question 16

What are the two ligament insertion types?

Answer 16

Direct and indirect

Question 17

What is direct insertion?

Answer 17

Ligament fibres cross a mineralisation front and progress to bone

Question 18

What is indirect insertion?

Answer 18

Short Collagen fibres anchor obliquely into periosteum

Question 19

Are ligaments more or less strong and stiff than tendons?

Answer 19

Less

Question 20

What are two functions of cartilage?

Answer 20

• Maintenance of shape

- Provides low friction surface

Question 21

Briefly describe cartilage structure

Answer 21

Dense proteoglycan matrix

Question 22

Do Young’s modulus and strength increase or decrease with depth in cartilage pad?

Answer 22

Decrease

Question 23

Why does articulate cartilage have such a low coefficient of friction?

Answer 23

Squeeze-film effect

Question 24

What soft tissue does this stress-strain graph correlate to?

Answer 24

Articular Cartilage

Question 25

Is the compressive modulus of the meniscus better or worse than articular cartilage?

Answer 25

Worse