Accurate determination of the biomedical properties of connective tissue such as tendons and ligaments is dependent on the accurate measurement of their cross-sectional area (CSA). To date, techniques for determining cross-sectional areas of ligaments and tendons have been less than ideal due to their complex geometries and their deformations under external load. A novel non-destructive technique has been developed for determining the cross-sectional area of tendon by locating the tendon rupture, in which aqueous rapid curing alginate dental molding materials, digital photography and computerized image analysis are utilized. This technique marks tendons and alginate molds at 1 cm interval and then tendons are taken out for tensile test. Real-time video is recorded to locate the position of tendon rupture. The corresponding alginate slice is found and then analysis through computer image processing software to obtain a more accurate CSA at tendon rupture, which can be used to calculate the stress and young’s modulus of tendon. The accuracy of this technique has been investigated and comparisons have been made with the alginate un-localization molding technique and ellipse estimation technique. Results show this technique can provide accurate CSA values (within 2%) and great reproducibility (coefficient of variation = 0.8%). The technique is non-destructive, can obtain morphological information of soft tissue and can detect cavities.

肌腱和韧带等结缔组织的生物医学特性的准确测定取决于对其横截面积 (CSA) 的准确测量。迄今为止，由于韧带和肌腱的复杂几何形状和在外部负载下的变形，用于确定韧带和肌腱横截面积的技术并不理想。已经开发了一种通过定位肌腱断裂来确定肌腱横截面积的新型无损技术，其中利用了水性快速固化藻酸盐牙科成型材料、数字摄影和计算机图像分析。这种技术以1厘米的间隔标记肌腱和藻酸盐模具，然后取出肌腱进行拉伸试验。记录实时视频以定位肌腱断裂的位置。找到相应的藻酸盐切片，然后通过计算机图像处理软件进行分析，以获得更准确的肌腱断裂处的CSA，可用于计算肌腱的应力和杨氏模量。已经研究了该技术的准确性，并与藻酸盐非定位成型技术和椭圆估计技术进行了比较。结果表明，该技术可以提供准确的 CSA 值（在 2% 以内）和良好的重现性（变异系数 = 0.8%）。该技术是非破坏性的，可以获得软组织的形态信息并可以检测空洞。已经研究了该技术的准确性，并与藻酸盐非定位成型技术和椭圆估计技术进行了比较。结果表明，该技术可以提供准确的 CSA 值（在 2% 以内）和良好的重现性（变异系数 = 0.8%）。该技术是非破坏性的，可以获得软组织的形态信息并可以检测空洞。已经研究了该技术的准确性，并与藻酸盐非定位成型技术和椭圆估计技术进行了比较。结果表明，该技术可以提供准确的 CSA 值（在 2% 以内）和良好的重现性（变异系数 = 0.8%）。该技术是非破坏性的，可以获得软组织的形态信息并可以检测空洞。