title: Feasibility of using mixtures of silicone elastomers and silicone oils to model the mechanical behaviour of biological tissues.
abstract: Mixtures of silicone elastomer and silicone oil were prepared and the values of their Young's moduli, E, determined in compression. The mixtures had volume fractions, [Formula: see text], of silicone oil in the range of 0-0.73. Measurements were made, under displacement control, for strain rates, [Formula: see text], in the range of 0.04-3.85 s(-1). The behaviour of [Formula: see text] as a function of [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] was investigated using a response surface model. The effects of the two variables were independent for the silicones used in this investigation. As a result, the dependence of E values (measured in MPa) on [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text] (s(-1)) could be represented by [Formula: see text]. This means that these silicones can be mixed to give materials with E values in the range of about 0.02-0.57 MPa, which includes E values for many biological tissues. Thus, the mixtures can be used for making models for training health-care professionals and may be useful in some research applications as model tissues that do not exhibit biological variability.
authors.affiliation: School of Mechanical Engineering, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK Department of Biomedical Engineering, Imperial College London, London, UK.
authors.forename: S Mohammad Hassan
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Ahmadzadeh
authors.affiliation: School of Mechanical Engineering, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK David_hukins@yahoo.co.uk.
authors.forename: David W L
authors.initials: DW
authors.lastname: Hukins
mesh_terms: D040761:Biomimetic Materials / Q000737:chemistry*; D019245:Compressive Strength; D005240:Feasibility Studies; D006244:Hardness; D008422:Materials Testing; D012826:Silicone Elastomers / Q000737:chemistry*; D012827:Silicone Oils / Q000737:chemistry*; D013314:Stress, Mechanical; D013718:Tensile Strength; D014783:Viscosity
chemical_list: D012826:Silicone Elastomers; D012827:Silicone Oils
keywords: Modelling biological tissues; Young’s modulus; silicones