Engineering approaches for characterizing soft tissue mechanical properties: A review.

Journal: Clinical biomechanics (Bristol, Avon)
Published Date: Oct 1, 2019

Abstract

From cancer diagnosis to detailed characterization of arterial wall biomechanics, the elastic property of tissues is widely studied as an early sign of disease onset. The fibrous structural features of tissues are a direct measure of its health and functionality. Alterations in the structural features of tissues are often manifested as local stiffening and are early signs for diagnosing a disease. These elastic properties are measured ex vivo in conventional mechanical testing regimes, however, the heterogeneous microstructure of tissues can be accurately resolved over relatively smaller length scales with enhanced spatial resolution using techniques such as micro-indentation, microelectromechanical (MEMS) based cantilever sensors and optical catheters which also facilitate in vivo assessment of mechanical properties. In this review, we describe several probing strategies (qualitative and quantitative) based on the spatial scale of mechanical assessment and also discuss the potential use of machine learning techniques to compute the mechanical properties of soft tissues. This work details state of the art advancement in probing strategies, associated challenges toward quantitative characterization of tissue biomechanics both from an engineering and clinical standpoint.

Authors

  • Alekya B
    Biomedical and Electronic (10(-6)-10(-9)) Engineering Systems Laboratory, Department of Electronic Systems Engineering, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore 12, India.
  • Sanjay Rao
    Department of Pediatric Surgery, Mazumdar Shaw Multispecialty Hospital, Narayana Health, Bangalore 99, India.
  • Hardik J Pandya
    3Department of Mechanical Engineering,Maryland Robotics Center,Institute for Systems Research,University of Maryland,Glenn L. Martin Hall,College Park,MD 20742,USA.

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