On the compressibility and poroelasticity of human and murine skin

Abstract

A total of 37 human and 33 murine skin samples were subjected to uniaxial monotonic, cyclic, and relaxation experiments. Detailed analysis of the three-dimensional kinematic response showed that skin volume is significantly reduced as a consequence of a tensile elongation. This behavior is most pronounced in monotonic but persists in cyclic tests. The dehydration associated with volume loss depends on the osmolarity of the environment, so that tension relaxation changes as a consequence of modifying the ionic strength of the environmental bath. Similar to ex vivo observations, complementary in vivo stretching experiments on human volar forearms showed strong in-plane lateral contraction. A biphasic homogenized model is proposed which allows representing all relevant features of the observed mechanical response.

Activin-mediated alterations of the fibroblast transcriptome and matrisome control the biomechanical properties of skin wounds

“…8f) and tracked their displacement upon extension. Point identification and tracking was based on the contrast pattern naturally offered by the shaved and wounded skin, according to the custom-written Pythonbased algorithm (Python Software Foundation, Wilmington, DE) that was previously presented for applications to homogeneous deformation fields 73,74 . The displacement vector of each tracking point was first used to determine the global level of mechanical strain along the direction of tissue extension, corresponding to the slope of the regression line, which best described (in a least-square sense) the relationship between point displacements and reference positions 17 .…”

“…To compare the non-wounded skin of WT and Act mice, and possibly identify characteristic biomechanical differences that do not arise as part of the wound healing process, we additionally subjected tissue specimens (gauge dimensions: 20 × 5 mm 2 , length × width) to a uniaxial testing protocol 73 , and quantified their resistance to deformation as well as the in-plane kinematics 73 .…”

The bioengineering theory of the key modes of action of a cyanoacrylate liquid skin protectant

“…The layered structure of skin shapes its mechanical function, which is complex and known to vary by anatomical location, gender (sex steroids modulate epidermal and dermal thickness), age, and health conditions 9 . The mechanical behaviour of skin also depends on the loading mode, magnitudes, and rates of the applied forces (skin is a highly non‐linear and viscoelastic material) as well as the osmolarity of the testing environment 10 . Considering the aforementioned turnover cycles of skin, the mechanical properties of skin depend on the regeneration and repair capacities of the individual, which are, in turn, age‐dependent and may be affected by the function of the inflammatory system, by acute conditions as well as by chronic diseases 11,12 .…”

“…9 The mechanical behaviour of skin also depends on the loading mode, magnitudes, and rates of the applied forces (skin is a highly non-linear and viscoelastic material) as well as the osmolarity of the testing environment. 10 Considering the aforementioned turnover cycles of skin, the mechanical properties of skin depend on the regeneration and repair capacities of the individual, which are, in turn, age-dependent and may be affected by the function of the inflammatory system, by acute conditions as well as by chronic diseases. 11,12 This inherent biological/physiological variability across individuals partially explains the vast variation in reported mechanical properties for skin and skin layers, such as values of elastic moduli that span over several orders of magnitude, 0.04 to 1000 kPa for physiological deformations.…”

On the Reliability of Suction Measurements for Skin Characterization

“…The second main mechanical component of the dermis is elastin, while hydration is associated with significant amounts of proteoglycans [1]. Together, the different microstructural components and their distribution in each skin layer result in a complex mechanical behavior [4,5].…”