Study of Mechanical Properties of Human Skin

Human skin is a complex tissue consisting of several distinct layers, each consisting of their own components and structure. These several layers can be grouped into four layers, namely: stratum corneum dermis, living epidermis, dermis and subcutaneous fat. The main goal of this work is the development of numerical-experimental procedure to evaluate the elasticity of human skin in vivo. Experimental tests are carried out applying a non invasive method, the cutometer aspiration technique, and numerical tests using the ABAQUS software are employed for comparison. Regarding the numerical tests, both three-dimensional and axisymmetric finite element formulations were employed, and the Mooney-Rivlin, Yeoh and Neo-Hookean constitutive material models were found suitable for the present analysis.