Composite nature of fresh skin revealed during compression

Abstract

Biological systems are subjected to moderate-to-high strain rates in blast-type traumatic injuries. An improved understanding of the responses of cells and tissues to extreme mechanical stresses could improve mitigation and post-injury treatment strategies. A key aim of this research is to create biologically meaningful injury models of soft tissues. Here the authors examine the material and cellular properties of freshly harvested porcine skin in compression. The data presented suggest that fresh skin differentially responds low to moderate strain rates as a composite rather than that of a homogeneous polymer. The implications of this work are discussed in terms of creating improved analytical models to describe the material properties of fresh skin.