Effect of penetrating ionising radiation on the mechanical properties of pericardium

The pericardium is an anistropic composite material made up of collagen and elastin fibres embedded in an amorphous matrix mainly composed of proteoglycan and hyaluronan. The collagen fibres are arranged in layers, with different directions of alignment in each layer, giving rise to interesting mechanical properties of pericardium, including the ability to undergo large deformation during performance of regular physiological functions. The present study aims to investigate the effect of penetrating photon ionising radiation on bovine pericardium tissue, being part of a study of the effect of cardiac doses received in breast radiotherapy and the possibility that this can give rise to cardiovascular complications. Irradiation doses in the range 5–80 Gy were used. To characterise the various mechanical properties [elastic modulus, stress relaxation, ultimate tensile strength (UTS) and fracture] a uniaxial tensile test method was applied. The preliminary results reflect the wide inter-sample variations that are expected in dealing with tissues, with only a weak indication of increase in the UTS of the pericardium tissue with increase in radiation dose. Such an effect has also been observed by others, with reduction in UTS at doses of 80 Gy.