Dong C, Mead E, Skalak R, Fung Y C, Debes J C, Zapata-Sirvent R L, Andree C, Greenleaf G, Cooper M, Hansbrough J F
Department of Applied Mechanics and Engineering Sciences, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla 92093-0412.
Ann Biomed Eng. 1993;21(1):51-5. doi: 10.1007/BF02368164.
Adherence of a biological graft to the wound surface is the most important factor influencing the ultimate success of graft viability. A machine has been developed to test the adherence of biological graft materials to a substrate such as a wound surface. The peeling mode, which yields reproducible quantitative measurements of adherence, is a standard method for testing adhesives. The device is designed to continuously measure the force required to peel the graft from the substrate at a constant rate. This force is a function of the energy of adhesion per unit area of adhered surface. This device has been used to measure the peeling force of (2 x 2 cm) skin grafts which are applied to full-thickness wounds on mice. Results of tests on adherence of autografts on mice show that the peeling force increases significantly with time over the first 9 days of healing. Thus, this device is useful in quantitative comparison of various skin grafting techniques and artificial grafts.
