In Vitro Mechanical Characterization and Modeling of Subcutaneous Adipose Tissue: A Comprehensive Review

Abstract

Mechanical models of adipose tissue are important for various medical applications including cosmetics, injuries, implantable drug delivery systems, plastic surgeries, biomechanical applications such as computational human body models for surgery simulation, and blunt impact trauma prediction. This article presents a comprehensive review of in vivo experimental approaches that aimed to characterize the mechanical properties of adipose tissue, and the resulting constitutive models and model parameters identified. In particular, this study examines the material behavior of adipose tissue, including its nonlinear stress–strain relationship, viscoelasticity, strain hardening and softening, rate-sensitivity, anisotropy, preconditioning, failure behavior, and temperature dependency.