Strain rate effects on the failure characteristics of excised human skin

Introduction Skin is a complex, multi-layered material which exhibits non-linear, anisotropic and viscoelastic behaviour. Its structure is complex and can be broadly divided into three main layers: the epidermis, the dermis and hypodermis. The thickest of these layers, the dermis, consists of strong stiff collagen fibres which govern many of the mechanical properties of human skin [1]. The mechanical properties of skin are important for a number of applications including surgery, dermatology, impact biomechanics and forensic science. Many studies in the literature use human skin substitutes such as pigskin or silicone [2,3], and in vitro tests on human skin are particularly rare.