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Mechanical and Microstructural Properties of Stratum Corneum

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 February 2011

Kenneth S. Wu ,
William W. Van Osdol  and
Reinhold H. Dauskardt
Kenneth S. Wu
Affiliation:
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305-2205
William W. Van Osdol
Affiliation:
ALZA Corporation, Mountain View, CA 94039-7210
Reinhold H. Dauskardt
Affiliation:
Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305-2205
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Abstract

A mechanics approach is presented to study the intercellular delamination resistance and mechanical behavior of stratum corneum (SC) tissue in the direction normal to the skin surface. The effects of temperature and hydration on debonding behavior were also explored. Such understanding, which includes the relationship of mechanical behavior to the underlying SC cellular structure, is essential for emerging transdermal drug delivery technologies. Fracture mechanics-based cantilever-beam specimens were used to determine reproducibly the energy release rates to quantify the cohesive strength of human SC. The debond resistance of fully hydrated SC was found to decrease with increasing temperature, while dehydrated SC exhibited a more complex variation with temperature. Stress-separation tests showed that fracture energies and peak separation stresses decreased with increasing temperature and hydration, although the SC modulus varied only marginally with temperature and hydration. Results are described in terms of microstructural changes associated with hydrophilic regions and intercellular lipid phase transitions.

Type
Research Article
Information
MRS Online Proceedings Library (OPL) , Volume 724: Symposium N – Biological and Biomimetic Materials Properties to Function , 2002 , N2.7
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2002

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