Simple method for measuring skin elasticity in vivo in situ

Abstract

Measurement of skin mechanical properties suffers from different issues. Many methods for describing it have already been developed. The available methods do not meet every requirement from clinical practice. This paper presents technical concept of new method for measuring mechanical properties of human skin with aim for usage in clinical conditions. The emphasis during development is put on availability even during procedures and fast measurements results above precision and complexion. The paper then presents design of the device called "elastometer" we developed and presents results of measurements on plastic samples as well as human skin. Measuring of samples suggests that this new simple method is comparable with the more complex ones. The goal is to present this new concept to readers and to prove potential of this concept for future development. More on the topic can be found in theses which led to this paper [1], [2] (in czech).