Development of Biofidelic Skin Simulants Based on Fresh Cadaveric Skin Tests.

Abstract

The development of artificial skin that accurately mimics the mechanical properties of human skin is crucial for a wide range of applications, including surgical training for burn injuries, biomechanical testing, and research in sports injuries and ballistics. While traditional materials like gelatin, polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS), and animal skins (such as porcine and bovine skins) have been used for these purposes, they have inherent limitations in replicating the intricate properties of human skin. In this work, we conducted uniaxial tensile tests on freshly obtained cadaveric skin to analyze its mechanical properties under various loading conditions. The stress-strain data obtained from these tests were then replicated using advanced skin simulants. These skin simulants were specifically formulated using a cost-effective and moldable multi-part silicone-based polymer. This material was chosen for its ability to accurately replicate the mechanical behavior of human skin while also addressing ethical considerations and biosafety concerns. In addition, the non-linear mechanical behavior of the developed skin simulants was characterized using three different hyperelastic curve-fit models (i.e., Neo-Hookean, Mooney-Rivlin, and Yeoh models). Moreover, these innovative simulants offer an ethical and practical alternative to cadaveric skin for use in laboratory and clinical settings.