Quantification of mechanical properties of human skin in vivo

Thorsten Heinrich; Reinhart A. Lunderstaedt

doi:10.1117/12.449747

7 December 2001 Quantification of mechanical properties of human skin in vivo

Thorsten Heinrich, Reinhart A. Lunderstaedt

Proceedings Volume 4472, Applications of Digital Image Processing XXIV; (2001) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.449747
Event: International Symposium on Optical Science and Technology, 2001, San Diego, CA, United States

Abstract

Dermatologist as well as the cosmetical industry are interested in evaluating the mechanical properties of human skin. Many devices have been developed to measure skin's response to mechanical stress. In the presented paper a new approach to quantify the viscoelastic behavior of human skin on mechanical stress is proposed. Image processing techniques are used to detect the two-dimensional deformation of the skin in uniaxial tensile tests. The apparatus consists of a computer-controlled stepper motor drive mechanism to extend the skin, a load cell to measure displacement vector fields are calculated by a method based on local template matching and interpolation algorithms. From the displacement vector fields a strain tensor and the principal strain directions are evaluated. A model built up of springs and dashpots, is used to characterize the stress-strain-time relationships of skin and to obtain a set of parameters, which represent the instantaneous elasticity, the delayed elasticity and the viscosity of skin on loading. The results show the accuracy of the model. The method seems to be useful to investigate the influences of age, test area, cosmetics, etc. on the mechanical properties of human skin in vivo.

Citation Download Citation

Thorsten Heinrich and Reinhart A. Lunderstaedt "Quantification of mechanical properties of human skin in vivo", Proc. SPIE 4472, Applications of Digital Image Processing XXIV, (7 December 2001); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.449747

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