The Effect of Flash Freezing on Variability in Spinal Cord Compression Behavior

The compression behavior of spinal cord tissue is important for understanding spinal cord injury mechanics but has not yet been established. Characterizing compression behavior assumes precise specimen geometry; however, preparing test specimens of spinal cord tissue is complicated by the extreme compliance of the tissue. The objectives of this study were to determine the effect of flash freezing on both specimen preparation and mechanical response and to quantify the effect of small deviations in specimen geometry on mechanical behavior. Specimens of porcine spinal cord white matter were harvested immediately following sacrifice. The tissue was divided into two groups: partially frozen specimens were flash frozen (60 s at $−80°C$⁠) prior to cutting, while fresh specimens were kept at room temperature. Specimens were tested in unconfined compression at strain rates of $0.05s−1$ and $5.0s−1$ to 40% strain. Parametric finite element analyses were used to investigate the effect of specimen face angle, cross section, and interface friction on the mechanical response. Flash freezing did not affect the mean mechanical behavior of the tissue but did reduce the variability in the response across specimens $(p<0.05)$⁠. Freezing also reduced variability in the specimen geometry. Variations in specimen face angle (0–10 deg) resulted in a 34% coefficient of variation and a 60% underestimation of peak stress. The effect of geometry on variation and error was greater than that of interface friction. Taken together, these findings demonstrate the advantages of flash freezing in biomechanical studies of spine cord tissue.