Mechanical properties of women pelvic soft tissues

The female pelvic floor undergoes significant changes in mechanical loading throughout the lifetime of a patient. The chapter presented focuses on the mechanics of the vagina, uterus, levator ani, and uterosacral ligament. For each organ mentioned, the sections are divided into contributions from the contracting smooth muscle cells, contributions from collagen and elastic fibers, and contributions from the nonfibrous ground matrix. To optimize clinical relevance, studies that utilize human-derived samples are the primary focus of this chapter and supplemented with notable studies that utilize animal models to give a basis for the field of biomechanics and the female pelvic floor.