Monitoring dynamic collagen reorganization during skin stretching with fast polarization-resolved second harmonic generation imaging.

The mechanical properties of biological tissues are strongly correlated to the specific distribution of their collagen fibers. Monitoring the dynamic reorganization of the collagen network during mechanical stretching is however a technical challenge, because it requires mapping orientation of collagen fibers in a thick and deforming sample. In this work, a fast polarization-resolved second harmonic generation microscope is implemented to map collagen orientation during mechanical assays.

How aging impacts skin biomechanics: a multiscale study in mice.

Skin aging is a complex process that strongly affects the mechanical behavior of skin. This study aims at deciphering the relationship between age-related changes in dermis mechanical behavior and the underlying changes in dermis microstructure. To that end, we use multiphoton microscopy to monitor the reorganization of dermal collagen during mechanical traction assays in ex vivo skin from young and old mice.

Use of digital image correlation and ultrasound: analysis of thigh muscle displacement fields.

The understanding of the mechanical behavior of the muscle tissue is an important field of investigation with different applications in medicine, car crash and sport. Currently, few in vivo imaging techniques are able to characterize the mechanical properties of muscle. Thus, the development of an in vivo identification method is a current thematic where the displacement field measurements could be used for further interpretations.

Identification of hyperelastic properties of passive thigh muscle under compression with an inverse method from a displacement field measurement.

The mechanical behavior of muscle tissue is an important field of investigation with different applications in medicine, car crash and sport, for example. Currently, few in vivo imaging techniques are able to characterize the mechanical properties of muscle. Thus, this study presents an in vivo method to identify a hyperelatic behavior from a displacement field measured with ultrasound and Digital Image Correlation (DIC) techniques.

Development of an inverse approach for the characterization of in vivo mechanical properties of the lower limb muscles.

The purpose of this study was to develop an inverse method, coupling imaging techniques with numerical methods, to identify the muscle mechanical behavior. A finite element model updating (FEMU) was developed in three main interdependent steps. First, a 2D FE modeling, parameterized by a Neo-Hookean behavior (C10 and D), was developed from a segmented thigh muscle 1.