Ruptured tendon - confocal image - coloured

Confocal image showing damaged collagen fibres in a ruptured tendon. The area of wavey fibres to the lower right shows the normal healthy appearence of tendon. The waviness allows the whole tendon to have a small amount of elasticity (2-10%) as the collagen fibres themselves do not stretch. The field of view is approximately 220 microns across Biomedical Image Awards 2001.