Background
Palpation is the most widely used approach to empirically assess the mechanical properties of superficial tissues. While elastography is used for volume measurements, it remains difficult to assess skin properties with non-invasive methods. This study aimed to compare the performances of an impact-based analysis method (IBAM) consisting in studying the dynamic response of a punch in contact with the tissue with other approaches available on the market.
Materials and methods
IBAM consists in analyzing the time dependent force signal induced when a hammer instrumented with a force sensor impacts a cylindrical punch placed in contact with soft tissue. Sensitivities to stiffness changes and to spatial variations were compared between IBAM and four other mechanical surface characterization techniques: IndentoPro® (macroindentation), Cutometer® (suction), MyotonPro® (damped oscillation) and Shore Durometer (durometry) using soft tissue phantoms based on polyurethane gel.
Results
For stiffness discrimination in homogeneous phantoms, IBAM was slightly better than IndentoPro and MyotonPro (by 20% and 35% respectively), and outperformed the Shore Durometer and Cutometer by a factor of 2 to 4. Furthermore, for stiffness and thickness variations in bilayer phantoms, the axial sensitivity of IBAM was between 2.5 and 4.5 times better than that of MyotonPro and IndentoPro. In addition, the Cutometer appeared to be severely limited by its measurement depth.
Conclusion
IBAM seems to be a promising technique for characterizing the mechanical properties of soft tissue phantoms at relatively low depth. These results will need to be confirmed in future in vivo measurements on biological tissues. This work could pave the way to the development of a decision support system in the field of dermatology and cosmetics. However, its clinical applicability remains to be demonstrated ex vivo and in vivo.
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