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Updated: Jun 26, 2026
07:57
Viscoelastic Characterization of Soft Tissue-Mimicking Gelatin Phantoms using Indentation and Magnetic Resonance Elastography
Published on: May 10, 2022
Active sensing for viscoelastic tissue with coupling effect.
Nobuyuki Tanaka1, Mitsuru Higashimori, Makoto Kaneko
1Department of Mechanical Engineering, the Graduate School of Engineering, Osaka University, Suita, 565-0871, Japan. nobbytanaka@hh.mech.eng.osaka-u.ac.jp
Summary
This study introduces active sensing to determine living tissue viscoelasticity, considering neighbor interactions. A layered model accurately captures human skin
Area of Science:
- Biophysics
- Biomaterials Science
- Tissue Mechanics
Background:
- Assessing the mechanical properties of living tissues is crucial for diagnostics and treatments.
- Understanding viscoelasticity, including stiffness and damping, is key to characterizing tissue behavior.
- Neighboring unit coupling effects influence tissue dynamics.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop an active sensing method for determining viscoelastic parameters of living tissues.
- To model the dynamic characteristics of human skin using a layered unit approach.
Main Methods:
- Utilizing active sensing techniques to measure applied force and surface deformation over time.
- Employing a single-layered model composed of interconnected horizontal and vertical units.
- Each unit incorporates both stiffness and damping elements to represent viscoelasticity.
Main Results:
- The proposed model successfully determines viscoelastic parameters of living tissues.
- The model demonstrates the ability to capture the dynamic characteristics of human skin.
- An appropriate number of units in the model is essential for accurate representation.
Conclusions:
- Active sensing provides an effective approach for quantifying tissue viscoelastic properties.
- The developed layered unit model accurately represents complex tissue dynamics, such as those in human skin.
- This method holds potential for non-invasive tissue characterization.
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