{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,22]],"date-time":"2026-10-22T13:43:56Z","timestamp":1792676636379,"version":"4.5.0"},"reference-count":26,"publisher":"ASME International","issue":"2","content-domain":{"domain":["asmedigitalcollection.asme.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":[],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2010,2,1]]},"abstract":"<jats:p>The cervix plays a crucial role in maintaining a healthy pregnancy, acting as a mechanical barrier to hold the fetus in utero during gestation. Altered mechanical properties of the cervical tissue are suspected to play a critical role in spontaneous preterm birth. Both MRI and X-ray data in the literature indicate that cervical stroma contains regions of preferentially aligned collagen fibers along anatomical directions (circumferential\/longitudinal\/radial). In this study, a mechanical testing protocol is developed to investigate the large-strain response of cervical tissue in uniaxial tension and compression along its three orthogonal anatomical directions. The stress response of the tissue along the different orthogonal directions is captured using a minimal set of model parameters generated by fitting a one-dimensional time-dependent rheological model to the experimental data. Using model parameters, mechanical responses can be compared between samples from patients with different obstetric backgrounds, between samples from different anatomical sites, and between the different loading directions for a single specimen. The results presented in this study suggest that cervical tissue is mechanically anisotropic with a uniaxial response dependent on the direction of loading, the anatomical site of the specimen, and the obstetric history of the patient. We hypothesize that the directionality of the tissue mechanical response is primarily due to collagen orientation in the cervical stroma, and provides an interpretation of our mechanical findings consistent with the literature data on preferential collagen alignment.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1115\/1.3197847","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2010,4,2]],"date-time":"2010-04-02T22:35:55Z","timestamp":1270247755000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1115\/crossmarkpolicy-asme","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":94,"title":["A Study of the Anisotropy and Tension\/Compression Behavior of Human Cervical Tissue"],"prefix":"10.1115","volume":"132","author":[{"given":"Kristin M.","family":"Myers","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Mechanical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Room 3-347A, Cambridge, MA 02139"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Simona","family":"Socrate","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences & Technology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Room E25-406, Cambridge, MA 02139"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Anastassia","family":"Paskaleva","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Mechanical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Room 3-347A, Cambridge, MA 02139"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Michael","family":"House","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Maternal\/Fetal Medicine, Tufts Medical Center, 800 Washington Street, Boston, MA 02111"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"33","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2010,1,5]]},"reference":[{"key":"2019100411324941800_c1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.1016\/j.ajog.2005.12.002","article-title":"The Role of Cervical Cerclage in Obstetric Practice: Can the Patient Who Could Benefit From This Procedure be Identified?","volume":"194","author":"Romero","journal-title":"Am. J. Obstet. Gynecol.","ISSN":"https:\/\/id.crossref.org\/issn\/0002-9378","issn-type":"print"},{"issue":"1","key":"2019100411324941800_c2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"3","DOI":"10.1055\/s-2005-923437","article-title":"From Concept to Practice: The Recent History of Preterm Delivery Prevention Part I: Cervical Competence","volume":"23","author":"Vidaeff","journal-title":"Am. J. Perinatol","ISSN":"https:\/\/id.crossref.org\/issn\/0735-1631","issn-type":"print"},{"key":"2019100411324941800_c3","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"S82","DOI":"10.1016\/j.ejogrb.2009.02.008","article-title":"Changes in the Biochemical Constituents and Morphologic Appearance of the Human Cervical Stroma During Pregnancy","volume":"144","author":"Myers","journal-title":"Eur. J. Obstet. Gynecol. Reprod. 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