In-vivo Mechanical Characterization of Skin

The skin is the largest and most functionally complex organ in our body. It serves as a barrier protecting us from external influences. It regulates the body temperature and permits sensation of touch, heat and cold. The skin consists of three main layers: the epidermis, the dermis and the subcutaneous tissue. The dermis defines most of the structural behavior of the tissue. Several skin diseases result in a structural change of the dermis, where alterations in the composition of collagen fibers can lead to severe consequences in functionality and aesthetics for the patient. To date, clinical standards for diagnosis often rely on subjective assessment methods like palpation or questionnaires performed and answered by clinicians. It is obvious, that these quantification methods depend strongly on the experience of the observer and entail a high variability.

With the NIMBLE (Figure 1) our group developed a novel suction device for non-invasive in-vivo mechanical characterization of skin. The device applies a negative pressure to deform the tissue and detect mechanical parameters, such as tissue stiffness, with a displacement-controlled measurement principle (Figure 2 b).