Apparatus and method for using internal inclusion for mechanical characterization of soft materials
OwnerAdil Al-Mayahinventor
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Abstract
Various embodiments are described herein of methods and systems for measuring at least one mechanical characteristic of a soft material are provided according to the teachings herein. The embodiments described herein generally employ the use of a mechanical inclusion in the soft material, measuring at least one pressure and volume data point and applying a mechanical relation associated with the mechanical characteristic(s) to the measured data point(s) to determine the mechanical characteristic(s).
Claims19
A measurement system for measuring at least one mechanical property of a region of interest of a soft material, the measurement system comprising:
- a balloon that is disposed within the region of interest of the soft material, the balloon being inflatable from a deflated position to at least one inflated position during use to provide volume data;
- a volume indicator to measure the volume data for the balloon at each inflated position;
- a pressure indicator to measure pressure data for a corresponding pressure needed to inflate the balloon to each inflated position;
- and
- a mechanical characteristic analyzer that is configured to determine a pressure-volume relationship based on the measured volume and pressure data to capture an expansion resistance of the soft material around the balloon, translate the pressure-volume relationship into a mechanical relationship that corresponds to the at least one mechanical property and use the mechanical relationship to determine the at least one mechanical property.
A method of measuring at least one mechanical property of a region of interest of a soft material, the method comprising:
- inserting a balloon in a deflated position within the region of interest;
- inflating the balloon to at least one inflated position;
- measuring volume and pressure data comprising a volume of the balloon at each inflated position and a corresponding pressure used to inflate the balloon to each inflated position;
- and
- determining a pressure-volume relationship based on the measured volume and pressure data to capture an expansion resistance of the soft material around the balloon, translating the pressure-volume relationship into a mechanical relationship that corresponds to the at least one mechanical property and using the mechanical relationship to determine the at least one mechanical property.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.