Collagen Fibrils in Skin Orient in the Direction of Applied Uniaxial Load in Proportion to Stress while Exhibiting Differential Strains around Hair Follicles.

ABSTRACT: We determined inhomogeneity of strains around discontinuities as well as changes in orientation of collagen fibrils under applied load in skin. Second Harmonic Generation (SHG) images of collagen fibrils were obtained at different strain magnitudes. Changes in collagen orientation were analyzed using Fast Fourier Transforms (FFT) while strain inhomogeneity was determined at different distances from hair follicles using Digital Image Correlation (DIC). A parameter, defined as the Collagen Orientation Index (COI), is introduced that accounts for the increasingly ellipsoidal nature of the FFT amplitude images upon loading. We show that the COI demonstrates two distinct mechanical regimes, one at low strains (0%, 2.5%, 5% strain) in which randomly oriented collagen fibrils align in the directi

SUBMITTER: Nesbitt S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5507025 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature