Comparison of 2-D Fiber Network Orientation Measurement Methods

The mechanical properties of most soft tissues are dependent on the underlying network of collagen fibers, proteoglycans, and other extracellular matrix components 1. Similarly, the properties of in vitro tissue analogs, often created from collagen or fibrin gels, are also dependent on the organization of the biopolymers within 2. In both materials, the overall mechanical response is inherently multi-scale and dynamic. To understand the interplay between scales a satisfactory description of the microstructure must be obtained that is both tractable for modeling purposes and faithful to the essential physics of the tissue.