[Experimental study of changes in biomechanical properties of pig skin after rapid expansion]

Abstract

The purpose is to evaluate the biomechanical properties of conventional skin expansion, rapid expansion and unexpanded skin. In four pigs, 240 ml expanders of square shape are placed. The flaps are divided into three groups: (1) Rapid expansion flap: the expander is inflated daily until maximum volume is obtained. (2) Conventional expansion flap: inflation is done weekly. (3) Unexpanded skin is used as control. By using the tensometer, the skin is evaluated for stress strain, stress relaxation, density of strain energy, parameters of strength, and a mathematical model is obtained. We conclude that the biomechanical properties of the expanded skin are different from that of the unexpanded skin. But the biomechanical properties of conventional expanded skin are similar to that of rapid expanded skin. It is shown that the rapid expansion may be accepted in the practice.