Compression testing of very soft biological tissues using semi-confined configuration--a word of caution

We analyse semi-confined (i.e. using no-slip boundary conditions) compression experiment of very soft tissue sample using finite element method. We show that the assumption that the planes perpendicular to the direction of the applied force remain plane during the experiments is not satisfied for compression levels lower than previously stated in Miller [2005. Method for testing very soft biological tissues in compression. Journal of Biomechanics 38, 153-158]. Therefore, we recommend that the parameters for constitutive models of very soft tissues be determined by fitting a solution of the finite element models of the experimental set-up to the measurements obtained using semi-confined compression experiments.