Abstract
This paper establishes a theoretical and computational framework for the development of a novel piezoelectric sensor array for the monitoring of surficial tissue motion that can be used as a basis for the reconstruction of layered viscoelastic skin properties. This is accomplished by the scale reduction of the so-called Multi-channel Analysis of Surface Waves (MASW), a methodology that is successfully used in engineering geophysics for the seismic-wave reconstruction of vertical geological profiles. The utility of the new sensor, containing an array of hair-like PVDF sensors that are sensitive to surficial tissue motion, is enhanced through a systematic solid-fiber interaction analysis that furnishes integral information, cumulative over the length of each fiber, about the attenuation and dispersion of surface waves. On employing such a predictive model as a lynchpin of the full waveform back-analysis used to interpret electric charges generated by the fibers, the methodology allows for an effective reconstruction and viscoelastic characterization of cutaneous and subcutaneous tissue sublayers on a millimeter scale. The performance of the proposed sensor array and data interpretation framework is illustrated through numerical simulations, which point to the feasibility of cost-effective, in vivo mechanical characterization of skin sublayers.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 2209-2217 |
Number of pages | 9 |
Journal | International Journal of Solids and Structures |
Volume | 48 |
Issue number | 14-15 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Jul 2011 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:The support provided by the National Science Foundation through Award No. CMMI-0726884 to B. Guzina and E. Ebbini is gratefully acknowledged. The authors are also thankful to the Minnesota Supercomputing Institute for providing computing resources during the course of this investigation.
Keywords
- Mechanical skin properties
- Multi-channel Analysis of Surface Waves
- Piezoelectric sensor
- Viscoelastic characterization