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Surgical and Radiologic Anatomy
Published in: Surgical and Radiologic Anatomy 7/2009

01-08-2009 | Original Article

Mechanics of crural fascia: from anatomy to constitutive modelling

Authors: Carla Stecco, Piero G. Pavan, Andrea Porzionato, Veronica Macchi, Luca Lancerotto, Emanuele L. Carniel, Arturo N. Natali, Raffaele De Caro

Published in: Surgical and Radiologic Anatomy | Issue 7/2009

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Abstract

Ten dissections of inferior limbs and histological studies were performed to describe the structural conformation of the muscular fascia of the leg (crural fascia) and to propose a constitutive model to be adopted for the analysis of its biomechanical behaviour. The crural fascia had a mean thickness of 924 μm and was composed of three layers (mean thickness 277.6 μm) of parallel, collagen fibre bundles separated by a thin layer of loose connective tissue (mean thickness 43 μm). Only a few elastic fibres were highlighted. The disposition of the collagen fibres gives the crural fascia anisotropic characteristics. In addition, their crimped conformation is the cause of the non-linear elastic behaviour of the tissue. Both these aspects are included in the constitutive model. The constitutive modelling of the crural fascia represents a useful tool to rationally interpret the correlation between functional behaviour and structural conformation.
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Metadata
Title
Mechanics of crural fascia: from anatomy to constitutive modelling
Authors
Carla Stecco
Piero G. Pavan
Andrea Porzionato
Veronica Macchi
Luca Lancerotto
Emanuele L. Carniel
Arturo N. Natali
Raffaele De Caro
Publication date
01-08-2009
Publisher
Springer-Verlag
Published in
Surgical and Radiologic Anatomy / Issue 7/2009
Print ISSN: 0930-1038
Electronic ISSN: 1279-8517
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00276-009-0474-2

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