Estimation of the surface mechanical properties of soft tissues mimicking phantoms using impact analyses: a comparative study

Fuente: arXiv
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Autori principali: Bouffandeau, Arthur, Bensamoun, Sabine, Schleip, Robert, Rosi, Giuseppe, Flouzat-Lachaniette, Charles-Henri, Meningaud, Jean-Paul, Haiat, Guillaume
Natura: Preprint
Pubblicazione: 2025
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author Bouffandeau, Arthur
Bensamoun, Sabine
Schleip, Robert
Rosi, Giuseppe
Flouzat-Lachaniette, Charles-Henri
Meningaud, Jean-Paul
Haiat, Guillaume
author_facet Bouffandeau, Arthur
Bensamoun, Sabine
Schleip, Robert
Rosi, Giuseppe
Flouzat-Lachaniette, Charles-Henri
Meningaud, Jean-Paul
Haiat, Guillaume
contents 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 after future ex vivo and in vivo validation studies with biological tissues (with both animal and in human experiments). This work could pave the way to the development of a decision support system in the field of dermatology and cosmetics.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2511_10123
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Estimation of the surface mechanical properties of soft tissues mimicking phantoms using impact analyses: a comparative study
Bouffandeau, Arthur
Bensamoun, Sabine
Schleip, Robert
Rosi, Giuseppe
Flouzat-Lachaniette, Charles-Henri
Meningaud, Jean-Paul
Haiat, Guillaume
Medical Physics
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 after future ex vivo and in vivo validation studies with biological tissues (with both animal and in human experiments). This work could pave the way to the development of a decision support system in the field of dermatology and cosmetics.
title Estimation of the surface mechanical properties of soft tissues mimicking phantoms using impact analyses: a comparative study
topic Medical Physics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2511.10123