Dots-on-Plots

Dots-on-Plots automates calculation of tensile mechanical properties from stress-strain curves to standardize characterization of soft tissues such as human meniscus.

Key Features:

• Automation: Automates calculation of tensile mechanical properties from stress-strain curves.
• Comprehensive analysis: Calculates properties at four critical points—transition, yield, ultimate, and rupture—and computes linear modulus, including strength, strain, and energy metrics.
• Optimized threshold settings: Implements a pre-determined optimal threshold of 2% stress deviation from a linear-region fit to minimize error when identifying the transition point.
• Validation and reliability: Validated on twenty tensile experiments of human meniscus, reproducing transition strain values (0.049 ± 0.007 compared to 0.050 ± 0.006).
• Sensitivity analysis: Performs sensitivity analysis using synthetic data sets to assess robustness across various curve shapes.

Scientific Applications:

• Soft tissue mechanics: Standardizes mechanical characterization of soft tissues for studies of tissue behavior and material properties.
• Comparative studies: Enables consistent comparison of tensile properties across experiments and cohorts.
• Large-scale tensile studies: Supports analysis workflows for multi-sample and collaborative studies of tissue mechanics.

Methodology:

Identifies key points on stress-strain curves (e.g., transition from nonlinear "toe" region to linear region), fits a linear-region model, applies a 2% stress-deviation threshold to detect the transition, and automates calculation of properties.