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. 2020 Sep 9;11:4502. doi: 10.1038/s41467-020-18308-9

Fig. 3. Swelling-strengthening behavior of swelling-strengthening hydrogels (SSHs) in vivo.

Fig. 3

a Schematic diagram of the experimental procedure. b Photographs of the surgical implantation of SSHs in rats. Left: incision; middle: implantation; right: conglutination. A roughly 1-cm incision was made in the mediodorsal skin, and a lateral subcutaneous pocket was prepared. c Photographs and d swelling ratio of the hydrogel samples after implantation for the predetermined time points. e Compressive modulus at 90% strain versus swelling ratio. f Variation of compressive modulus versus swelling ratio. g Compressive stress at 90% strain versus swelling ratio. h Variation of compressive stress versus swelling ratio. The strain rate was 5 mm/min, and the dimension of the cylindrical samples was 5 × 3 mm. All error bars represent the mean ± SD (n = 3 independent experiments). Significance was assessed using unpaired two-tailed Student’s t test, giving P values, **P < 0.01, ***P < 0.001. NS no significance.