Objectives. To investigate the relationship between the morphology and the mechanical properties of benign prostatic tissues measured in vitro. Methods. Fresh tissue specimens were collected from 17 patients undergoing transurethral resection of the prostate for benign prostatic obstruction. Individual tissue specimens underwent immediate mechanical testing, by applying a dynamic compressive strain to the samples. The amplitude ratio (|E*|) and phase difference (tan δ), measures of tissue elastic and viscous components, were derived. Individual sections from the processed specimens underwent immunohistochemical staining and computerized image analysis to measure the morphologic characteristics of each transurethral resection of the prostate chipping. Correlations between the morphologic and mechanical measurements were assessed. Results. A strong positive correlation was found between prostatic smooth muscle content and |E*| (R = 0.58, P = 0.009). Conclusions. The results of this study have demonstrated that strong correlations exist between prostatic tissue morphology and mechanical characteristics. We believe that the ability to quantify prostatic tissue mechanical characteristics in vivo may be of clinical benefit in the future assessment and treatment of benign prostatic disease.
