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Skin blood flow changes and tissue deformations produced by cylindrical indentors
Journal of Rehabilitation Research and Development
|July 1, 1985
Summary
Skin blood flow reduction during external loading depends on bone depth, bone diameter, and tissue compression, not the load itself. Tissue stiffness increases with age, requiring higher pressures for the same displacement.
Area of Science:
- Biomechanics
- Physiology
- Dermatology
Background:
- Skin blood flow is influenced by numerous factors, complicating group separation based on pressure-flow curves.
- External loading effects on skin blood flow are complex and variable.
Purpose of the Study:
- To identify key variables influencing skin blood flow reduction under external loading.
- To determine the relationship between age, tissue stiffness, and pressure requirements for skin displacement.
Main Methods:
- Dimensional analysis to identify critical variables affecting skin blood flow.
- Measurement of skin displacement and average indentor pressure in four male subjects.
Main Results:
- Percent decrease in skin blood flow is primarily a function of bone depth/diameter to indentor diameter ratios and tissue compression.
- Load magnitude was found to be unimportant.
- Tissue stiffness increases with age, necessitating higher pressures for equivalent skin displacement.
Conclusions:
- Measuring bone depth, bone diameter, and tissue deformation is more critical than pressure for understanding skin blood flow changes.
- Age is a significant factor in skin tissue stiffness, impacting pressure requirements.