2021/11/18 by Étienne Couturier, Dominic Vella, Couturier, Etienne +3
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology · Engineering · #Biological Physics (physics.bio-ph) #Bone Tissue Engineering Materials #Cellular Mechanics and Interactions #Elasticity and Material Modeling #FOS: Physical sciences
paper · doi:10.48550/arxiv.2111.09710
openalex publication_date 2021/11/18 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
Measuring the mechanical properties of cells and tissues often involves indentation with a sphere, or compression between two plates. Previously, different theoretical approaches have been developed to retrieve material parameters (e.g. elastic modulus) or state variables (e.g. pressure) from such experiments. Here, we extend previous theoretical work on indentation of a spherical pressurized shell by a point force to cover indentation by a spherical probe or a plate. We provide formulae that enable the modulus or pressure to be deduced from experimental results with realistic contact geometries, giving different results that are applicable depending on pressure level. We expect our results to be broadly useful when investigating biomechanics or mechanobiology of cells and tissues.