Biomechanical and Elastographic Analysis of Mesenchymal Stromal Cell Treated Tissue Following Surgery

Hernia repair continues to be a problem facing surgeons today, particularly because of the high incidence of reoccurrence. This work presents preliminary data of a pioneering effort to investigate the effect of mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) on mechanical property enhancement in full thickness fascial defects. Heparinized MSCs harvested from a rabbit’s tibia/iliac crest were applied to two fascial defects on the rabbit’s abdominal wall, with two other defects acting as controls (no MSCs added). After an 8 week recovery period, the entire abdominal fascia was harvested for mechanical property testing and elastographic strain analysis. Preliminary results from uniaxial tensile testing indicate a significant increase in the modulus of toughness strain energy, with at least a 50% increase in the MSC treated defects as compared with the control defects. Results from the elastographic strain analysis show excellent correlation in the calibration of the elastography to the uniaxial tensile test, with nearly identical moduli of elasticity. In addition, the elastographs clearly show tissue property heterogeneity at all stages of tensile testing. The MSC treated tissue demonstrates promise of enhanced material properties over that of the nontreated tissue; testing and analysis is ongoing. The elastography provides pixel-level description of tissue property variations providing critical information on wound healing effectiveness that would be impossible with other methods. In the ongoing research, optical elastography, in combination with the traditional tensile test and tissue histology, will be used to characterize localized biomechanical properties directly within the defect area and to locate “crack” initiation and propagation sights as the material is strained to rupture.