The tendon-structure is hierarchically organized: the endotenon soft tissue separates the collagen fibre bundles in sub-segments with decreasing diameter. MR-microscopy at pixel size below 80µm is capable to differentiate microstructure up to the second hierarchical level and demonstrate self-similarity of the sub-segmentations. Can this self-similarity of the tendon be characterized by a fractal dimension? Is the fractal dimension sensitive to microstructural permanent changes as a consequence of strong mechanical load? We present our investigations obtained within a pilot study using short-TE Multislice-T2*-microscopy with a pixel-size of 39x35µm2 indicating the importance of the crimp filament structure.
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