Traditional indentation test for measurement of soft tissue elasticity

Abstract

与手触诊非常类似,印压测试使用比组 织截面积小的压头对组织进行压缩,然后利用组织的反应力/形变测量组织的弹性特征。相对于触诊,印压测试的结果具有定量化和客观性强的优点,同时由于它对 被测试组织准备没有特别的要求,可以进行无创测量,因此被大量用于各种活体组织弹性的测量,是应用最广泛的组织弹性测量技术之一。传统印压测试系统一般使 用印压头的位移代替组织的形变,测试强调结果而不特别强调系统本身的实用性。近年来,该领域发展了一些新的印压系统,如超声印压和水冲印压系统,这些系统 不仅可以很好地完成印压测试,而且具有便携性和可微型化的特点,所以在临床应用方面具有很大的前景,我们称这些系统为新型印压系统。本期我们主要介绍传统 的印压测试和系统,先简要回顾它们的发展历史,然后重点介绍印压测试分析方法,以及在弹性测量里面的典型应用,最后小结全文。 As an analog of hand palpation,indentation test uses an indenter with a smaller contact area compared to the tested soft tissue to compress it and utilizes the relationship of force/deformation to measure the elastic properties of the soft tissue.Compared to hand palpation,the indentation is a method with quantitative results and objective analysis.With little requirement for the preparation of the tested soft tissue and as a noninvasive testing,the indentation has been widely applied to measure the tissue elasticity and has become one of the most frequently used methods in the field of elasticity measurement.Traditional indentation systems measure the displacement of indenter as equivalent of the tissue deformation.The use of such systems focuses on the measurement results but pays little attention to the system applicability.In recent years,new indentation systems are emerging such as the ultrasound indentation and the water-jet indentation systems.These systems,called "novel indentation systems" hereafter,not only have a good performance of indentation test but also possess the advantages of portability and potential in miniaturization for wide clinical applications.In this paper,the traditional indentation techniques and systems are introduced.Firstly the history of indentation for elasticity measurement of soft tissues is briefly reviewed.Then the analysis technique for indentation test is presented followed by several main applications of indentation for elasticity measurement.A summary is given at the end of this paper.