Irish Mathematical Society

ICEDIM Seminars

Date: Wednesday, 4 December 2024 at 2pm (UTC+00:00)
Speaker: Hannah Conroy Broderick (Galway)
Title: A simple method for determining in vivo stress difference in human skin
Location: Online via Zoom [ Meeting ID: 934 8769 5680; Passcode: 951510 ]

Abstract

Skin is the largest organ in the human body and is responsible for many important functions, including acting as the body's initial line of defense. It is under a constant state of tension in the body, and this tension plays a critical role in surgical outcomes. Common surgical and scar management guidelines state that incisions should be made parallel to the maximal tension, however there is currently no accepted way to measure this tension in a clinical setting non-destructively, with surgeons typically relying on qualitative techniques and their own experience. Here, we develop a technique to measure the stress difference in the body using an acoustic measurement technique that relies on a simple analytic formula.

We derive a simple formula from the acoutoelastic theory that relates the stress difference to the wave velocities, with a known given error. We validate this formula computationally using Finite Element simulations and find that the formula can predict the stress difference accurately in a variety of situations. Final validation is carried out experimentally on synthetic tissue phantoms, where we find very good agreement with the simple formula. The proposed formula is universal and will enable on-demand patient-specific measurement of stress in skin in a simple non-invasive manner.

This is joint work with Wenting Shu, Michel Destrade and Aisling Ní Annaidh.

Bio

Hannah Conroy Broderick is an applied mathematician, who works at the intersection of mathematics and mechanical engineering. Her research is focused in solid mechanics, where she works on a variety of topics including electro- and magneto-elastic materials and soft tissue biomechanics. She received her PhD in Applied Mathematics at the University of Galway, with a focus on stability and wrinkling in electroelastic materials. In 2022, she was awarded an Irish Research Council Postdoctoral Fellowship and moved to the School of Mechanical and Materials Engineering at University College Dublin to research acoustoelasticity in skin biomechanics.

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