Rheology experiments probe the bulk properties of a material and shear or tensile tests are based on the assumption that the sample in itself is homogeneous. As we have shown in chapter 3, this is an oversimplified picture for fibrin hydrogels and most probably for other biopolymer networks, too. A crucial aspect in measuring the sample response to a deformation is the application of stress at a well-defined location. When the spatial distribution of load in a sample matters, such as in hydrogel networks or when study- ing force distribution within the extracellular matrix, the usual shear (and tensile) geometries might not be appropriate. For microspectroscopy of fibrin (but other hydrogel samples as well) I therefore suggest testing the following experimental configuration: A thin sample is prepared by casting between glass slides as described before. However, a fiber or wire of small diameter (weiterlesen