Evidence brief
Viscoelastic Properties of Biological Tissues
Creep: constant load, increasing deformation over time
Stress relaxation: constant deformation, decreasing stress
Hysteresis: energy loss in loading-unloading cycle
Strain rate dependence: faster loading = stiffer response
All biological tissues exhibit viscoelastic behavior
Understanding viscoelasticity explains tissue behavior during manipulation, casting, and slow correction of deformities.
Clinical applications: serial casting for clubfoot (creep), tendon relaxation under constant stretch. Know stress-strain curves for different tissues (bone brittle, tendon toe region, cartilage biphasic). Explain hysteresis in context of cyclic loading.
Fung YC. Biomechanics: Mechanical Properties of Living Tissues. 2nd ed. New York: Springer; 1993.
Level V
Expert opinion or mechanism-based reasoning