Biomechanical Evaluation and Comparison of the Artificial and Natural Skin Properties Using Finite Element Method

Introduction: The self-repair process cannot occur in the skin lesions, therefore, skin replacements are used due to the formation of a scar, which resulted in the complete loss of skin. Artificial skin should have the same specifications as the natural skin. The finite element methods were used in this study to evaluate the biomechanichal properties of natural and artificial skins. Materials and methods: Due to the structure of artificial skins, we compared them based on the numerical solutions by finite elements software. The results of the artificial silicon and polyurethane skin properties were analyzed and compared with the natural skin. Results: The amount of stress in the natural skin texture was more than the silicone and polyurethane skins. Polyurethanes showed more similar behavior with natural skin in the stress production. The behavior of tissues and the numerical value results of the artificial tissues was similar with the natural skin texture regarding to strain evaluation. Discussion and Conclusion:  Regarding the small differences in the artificial silicone and polyurethane skin tissues, both of them can be used as a substitute of natural skin.