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Updated: Jun 4, 2026

Biomechanical Characterization of Human Soft Tissues Using Indentation and Tensile Testing
Published on: December 13, 2016
Indentation versus tensile measurements of Young's modulus for soft biological tissues
Clayton T McKee1, Julie A Last, Paul Russell
1Department of Surgical and Radiological Science, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of California Davis, Davis, California 95616, USA.
Abstract:
In this review, we compare the reported values of Young's modulus (YM) obtained from indentation and tensile deformations of soft biological tissues. When the method of deformation is ignored, YM values for any given tissue typically span several orders of magnitude. If the method of deformation is considered, then a consistent and less ambiguous result emerges. On average, YM values for soft tissues are consistently lower when obtained by indentation deformations. We discuss the implications and potential impact of this finding.
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