Measurements of the linear elastic properties of the face soft tissues using an aspiration device
Résumé
Maxillo-facial surgeries have a direct impact on the face shape and appearance. The anatomical variations in the face soft tissues (skin thickness, skin or muscle material parameters…) make it hard to predict the face final shape accurately. Biomechanical modeling could help in this prediction by simulating the soft tissue displacement following the bone remodeling and therefore the patient's face visible outcome. Measuring the variation of the skin properties across a range of subjects could help to build accurate patient-specific biomechanical simulations. In this study, a specifically designed aspiration device, called LASTIC (Light Aspiration device for in vivo Soft TIssue Characterization), is used to characterize the elastic modulus of the face soft tissues at four different locations (cheek, cheekbone, forehead, and lower lip) on 16 subjects. The initial Young's modulus of the cheek, cheekbone, forehead, and lower lip are respectively estimated to be in the range [31 kPa: 42kPa]. Significant intra-subject differences in tissue stiffnesses between the cheek and forehead and between the lower lip and forehead are highlighted by these estimations. They also show important inter-subject variabilities for some locations even when mean value stiffness show no statistical difference. This study stresses the importance of using a measurement device capable of evaluating the patient-specific tissue elastic moduli before and during an intervention in order to improve the accuracy of a surgery outcome.
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