Indentation technique for simultaneous estimation of young’s modulus and poisson’s ratio of soft tissues

Young’s modulus and Poisson’s ratio are the important parameters for representing the mechanical properties of soft tissue. Indentation test is an in vivo, non-invasive and convenient technique for measuring the tissue properties. In this chapter, two methods for the simultaneous estimation of Young’s modulus and Poisson’s ratio of soft tissues using indentation are presented. With the consideration of the finite deformation effect, the first method is based on the use of two sized indentors for conducting two different indentation tests, whereas the second one is only a single indentation test. Finite element (FE) analysis was used to demonstrate the feasibility of these two methods. The FE results were found to be comparable to the one shown in the previous literatures. It was revealed that finite deformation effect is of vital importance in the estimation of the Young’s modulus and Poisson’s ratio. Simultaneous estimation of these two parameters is necessary for achieving an accurate measurement of the Young’s modulus.