Mechanical properties of nerve roots and rami radiculares isolated from fresh pig spinal cords

This study investigates the strength characteristics of nerve roots and rami radiculares, which are components of the cauda equina. The cauda equina is a bundle of nerve roots in the lower spinal canal that can be affected by conditions like cauda equina syndrome. The researchers performed tensile tests on nerve roots and rami radiculares extracted from fresh pig spinal cords. These tests measured the stress-strain relationship and strength under different conditions. The study found that nerve root tensile strength was not dependent on the rate of strain, while the tensile strength of rami radiculares tended to decrease as the strain rate increased. This suggests different responses to force and speed of injury between these structures.

• 1
  The tensile strength of the nerve root was not rate dependent, remaining relatively constant around 0.7 MPa across different strain rates.
• 2
  The tensile strength of the ramus radiculares tended to decrease as the load strain rate increased, suggesting a higher susceptibility to injury with increasing speed of force application.
• 3
  Nerve roots exhibited a superelastic pattern in stress-strain relationships, while ramus radiculares showed a stepwise decrease in stress after reaching a peak, with the decrease becoming more rapid as the strain rate increased.