McKay Orthopaedic Research Laboratory

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McKay Orthopaedic Research Laboratory > Elliott Lab > Dawn M. Elliott

Dawn M. Elliott, Ph.D.

Associate Professor of Orthopaedic Surgery
Associate Professor of Bioengineering

HOMETOWN
Monroe, Michigan

EDUCATION
Ph.D. Biomedical Engineering, 1999, Duke University
M.S. Engineering Mechanics, 1995, University of Cincinnati
B.S. Mechanical Engineering, 1988, University of Michigan

AREAS OF EXPERTISE
Biomechanics of Collagenous Soft Tissues

AREAS OF SPECIAL INTEREST
Dr. Elliott studies the biomechanical function of orthopaedic soft tissues in health, aging, degeneration, injury and healing. Her primary focus is the intervertebral disc, which supports and distributes loads and permits motions of the spine. She also studies other tissues including tendon, ligament, meniscus, and articular cartilage.

With age, the intervertebral disc undergoes progressive and irreversible degenerative changes that often lead to low back pain. Surgical treatment options are extremely limited and do not restore disc function. To describe the complex material behaviors of these tissues, including anisotropy, nonlinearity, inhomogeneity, and viscoelasticity, Dr. Elliott primarily uses mathematical models and mechanical tests. The mathematical models are applied to the study of human tissue as well as animal models which mimic human conditions. Mathematical models and mechanical tests, in combination with biochemical composition and microstructural measurements, lead to a better understanding of tissue function as well as the mechanisms for degeneration, injury and healing. In addition, the detailed knowledge of material behaviors gained through these methods is valuable in the development and evaluation of new treatments, such as surgical repair and tissue engineering.

RECENT PUBLICATIONS
  1. 1. Setton, LA, DM Elliott and VC Mow. Altered mechanics of articular cartilage with osteoarthritis: report on cartilage mechanics in human osteoarthritis and an experimental model of joint degeneration. Osteoarthritis and Cartilage 7(1): 2-14, 1999.
  2. Elliott, DM, F Guilak, TP Vail, J Wang and LA Setton. Tensile properties of articular cartilage are altered by meniscectomy in a canine model of osteoarthritis. Journal of Orthopaedic Research 17(4):503-508, 1999.
  3. Elliott, DM and LA Setton. A linear material model for fiber-induced anisotropy of the anulus fibrosus. Journal of Biomechanical Engineering, 122:173-179, 2000.
  4. Elliott, DM and LA Setton. Anisotropic and inhomogeneous tensile behavior of the human anulus fibrosus: experimental measurements and material model predictions, Journal of Biomechanical Engineering 123:256-263, 2001.
  5. Elliott, DM, R Jones, LA Setton, SP Scully, TP Vail and F Guilak. Joint degeneration following meniscal allograft transplantation in a canine model: mechanical properties and semiquantitative histology of articular cartilage, Knee Surgery, Sports Traumatology, Arthroscopy 10:109-118, 2002.
  6. Elliott, DM, DA Narmoneva, and LA Setton. Direct measurement of the Poisson's ratio of human patella cartilage in tension, Journal of Biomechanical Engineering 124:223-228, 2002.
  7. Elliott DM, PS Robinson, JA Gimbel, JJ Sarver, JA Abboud, RV Iozzo, LJ Soslowsky. Effect of altered matrix proteins on quasi-linear viscoelastic properties in transgenic mouse tail tendons, Annals of Biomedical Engineering 31:599-605, 2003.
  8. Lynch, HA, Johannessen W, Wu JP, Jawa A, Elliott DM. Effect of fiber orientation and strain-rate on the nonlinear uniaxial tensile material properties of tendon. Journal of Biomechanical Engineering 125:726-731, 2003.
  9. Sarver JJ, Robinson PS, Elliott DM. Methods for Quasi-linear viscoelastic modeling of soft tissue: Application to incremental stress relaxation experiments. Journal of Biomechanical Engineering 125:754-758, 2003.
  10. Elliott DM, Sarver JJ. Validation of the mouse and rat disc as mechanical models of the human lumbar disc. Spine 29:713-722, 2004 (Young Investigator Award Winner).
  11. Johannessen W, Vresilovic EJ, Wright AC, Elliott DM. Intervertebral disc mechanics are restored following cyclic loading and unloaded recovery. Annals of Biomedical Engineering 32(1): 70-76, 2004.
  12. Yin L and Elliott DM. A Biphasic and transversely isotropic mechanical model for tendon: application to mouse tail fascicles in uniaxial tension. Journal of Biomechanics 37:907-916, 2004.
  13. Sarver JJ and Elliott DM. Altered disc mechanics in mice genetically engineered for reduced type I collagen. Spine 29:1094-1098, 2004.
  14. Sarver JJ and Elliott DM. Mechanical differences between lumbar and tail motion segments in the mouse. Journal of Orthopaedic Research 23:150-155, 2005.
  15. Yin L, Elliott DM. A homogenization model of the annulus fibrosus. Journal of Biomechanics 38:1674, 2005.
  16. Guerin (Lynch) HAL, Elliott DM. The role of fiber-matrix interactions in a nonlinear fiber-reinforced strain energy model of tendon. Journal of Biomechanical Engineering 127(2):345-350, 2005.
  17. Wheaton AJ, Dodge GR, Elliott DM, Nicoll SB, Reddy R. Quantification of cartilage biomechanical and biochemical properties via T1-rho magnetic resonance imaging. Magnetic Resonance in Medicine 54:1087-1093, 2005.
  18. Johannessen W, Elliott DM. Effects of degeneration on the biphasic material properties of human nucleus pulposus in confined compression. Spine 30:E724-E729, 2005.
  19. Johannessen W, Cloyd JM, O'Connell GD, Vresilovic EJ, and Elliott DM. Trans endplate nucleotomy increases deformation and creep response in axial loading. Annals of Biomedical Engineering 34:687-696, 2006.
  20. Guerin HAL, Elliott DM. Degeneration affects the fiber reorientation of human annulus fibrosus under tensile load, Journal of Biomechanics 39:1410-1418, 2006.
  21. Johannessen W, Auerbach JD, Wheaton AJ, Kurji A, Reddy R, Borthakur A, Elliott DM. Assessment of human disc degeneration and proteoglycan content using T1rho MRI. Spine 31(11):1253-1257, 2006.
  22. Boxberger J, Sen S, Yerramalli C, Elliott DM. Nucleus pulposus glycosaminoglycan content is correlated with mechanical behavior in rat lumbar motion segments. J Orthop Res 24:1906-1915, 2006.
  23. Auerbach J, Johannessen W, Borthakur A, et al. In vivo quantification of human lumbar disc degeneration using t1rho-weighted magnetic resonance imaging. Eur Spine J 15(S3):S338-S344, 2006.
  24. Vresilovic EJ, Johannessen W, Elliott DM. Disc mechanics with trans-endplate limited nucleotomy are not fully restored following compressive cyclic loading and unloaded recovery. J Biomech Eng 128(6): 823-829, 2006.
  25. Yerramalli SC, Chou AI, Miller GJ, Nicoll SB, Chin KR, Elliott DM. The effect of nucleus pulposus crosslinking and glycosaminoglycan degradation on disc mechanical function. Biomechanics and Modeling in Mechanobiology 6(1-2):13-20, 2007.
  26. O'Connell G, Vresilovic EJ, Elliott DM. Comparison of animal used in disc research to human lumbar disc geometry. Spine, in press.
  27. Guerin HL, Elliott DM. Quantifying the Contributions of Structure to Annulus Fibrosus Mechanical Function Using a Nonlinear, Anisotropic, Hyperelastic Model. J Orthop Res, in press.


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