Liver Tissue Surrogates: Development and Biomechanical Characterization

Human liver tissue often suffers extensive damage during impact-based trauma injuries, such as those that happen in vehicle accidents. However, it is challenging to study the biomechanics of human liver tissue under different loading situations through experiments in a clinical context due to ethical and biosafety concerns. In this work, biofidelic liver tissue surrogates, which exhibit realistic mechanical characteristics, have been developed for the first time. The tissue surrogates were made using a four-part elastomer material that could be cast to any size or form, mimicking the mechanical behavior of the liver tissue. The tissue's behavior was tested under six different strain rates, ranging from low to high, and its non-linear mechanical behavior was characterized using the Yeoh hyperelastic curve fit model. To the best of our knowledge, no liver tissue surrogates have been developed which possess the same biomechanical properties as real liver tissue. The use of precisely developed tissue simulants can be beneficial for surgical training, trauma research, and the development of medical models for different liver disorders such as liver cirrhosis, fatty liver, and liver fibrosis.