Preliminary Measurements on the Viscoelastic Properties of Animal Tissues at Audio-Frequencies

Abstract

In a preliminary investigation an electromagnetic transducer method was used to obtain the complex shear compliance and shear modulus at frequencies of 25 - 2500 cps in muscle tissue taken from a freshly-killed cow at room temperatures. Both the level and the shape of the compliance-frequency curves were found to depend on the elapsed time after slaughtering. While there were difficulties because of rapid changes in viscoelastic properties with time, the results indicated that the method can be successfully applied to determine the viscoelastic properties of animal tissues.