The tensile strength of natural and chemically modified bovine pericardium.

Nondestructive and destructive uniaxial load tests were performed on natural and chemically modified bovine pericardium. Five specimens were selected from the same sites in different pericardial sacs by using a template. The mean maximum extension of one particular site in both the natural and chemically modified material was significantly greater than that of the other positions at a stress level of 0.6 Nmm.-2 The maximum extensibility of the fixed tissue was significantly greater (p less than 0.01) than that of the natural tissue. There was also an anatomical variation in tensile strength of the natural material which was retained after chemical modification. However, the overall tensile strength of the pericardium was not increased by this procedure. In contrast, glutaraldehyde fixation did increase the percentage strain at which fracture of this biomaterial occurred.