“…Therefore, understanding the mechanical response of the plaque tissue using stress-relaxation and cyclic stretching is beneficial in designing disease treatment and management procedures. However, investigations that characterize the mechanical behavior of carotid plaques under cyclic loading conditions and the viscoelastic properties remains relatively unexplored, except a few studies on arterial elastin, porcine veins and arteries, abdominal aortic aneurysm, ligaments, muscle and skin tissues (Fung, 1967;Salunke et al, 2001;Toms et al, 2002;Sarver et al, 2003;Gasser et al, 2008;Heiland et al, 2013;Pasquesi et al, 2016, Pasquesi andMargulies, 2017;Remache et al, 2018;Wang et al, 2018;Yoo et al, 2009;Zou and Zhang, 2011).…”