Table 5.

Comparison of the mechanical outcomes, averaged over all quadrants, between the control and buffer-treated groups, in the circumferential and meridional directions. Paired Student's t-tests were used for statistical analysis.

	Circumferential			Meridional
	Control	Buffer-treated	p-value	Control	Buffer-treated	p-value
Low-pressure stiffness [kPa]	496.3 ± 251.6	637.4 ± 348.1	<0.005	953.0 ± 724.8	1265.5 ± 1192.1	<0.05
High-pressure stiffness [kPa]	6747.3 ± 2045.9	5244.3 ± 1589.4	<0.0001	5595.2 ± 2604.4	4048.2 ± 1635.4	<0.005
Transition strain [mm/mm]	0.028 ± 0.012	0.027 ± 0.013	0.50	0.022 ±0.016	0.025 ± 0.020	0.16
Hysteresis [kPa]	0.18 ± 0.06	0.21 ± 0.08	<0.01	0.18 ±0.07	0.22 ± 0.10	<0.05
Initial creep rate (first 80 s) [s−1]	0.033 ± 0.020	0.048 ± 0.021	<0.005	0.033 ±0.057	0.064 ± 0.078	0.11
Final creep rate (after 80 s) [s−1]	0.062 ± 0.047	0.088 ± 0.040	<0.05	0.041 ± 0.058	0.16 ± 0.16	<0.005