Novel technique for mechanical characterization of thin polymeric tissue membrane

This paper reports a new method to characterize the mechanical properties, such as the elasticity, of a thin polymeric tissue film. A sensitive microscope visualization instrument is developed for measuring the deformation of the circular tissue membrane of thickness less than 200/spl mu/m under the weight of a lubricated spherical ball. Central alignment is ensured as the ball rolls to the membrane center spontaneously by the gravity. The elastic deformation of the thin membrane was measured laterally. A theoretical model is constructed to quantitatively correlate the elasticity to the deformation profile of the membrane. By using our homemade image process software based on LabVIEW, the profile was correspondingly converted into a digitized curve. The good agreement between the experimental and theoretical results facilitates the determination of the elastic modulus of a thin elastomeric polymeric membrane.