Influence of Nanocarrier Additives on Biomechanical Response of a Rat Skin

Skin health monitoring focuses on identifying diseases by assessing the mechanical properties of the skin. These properties may degrade with time, which can alter the skin’s natural frequencies and the modeshapes associated with those frequencies. Exploring the skin’s mechanical properties can enhance our understanding of its dynamics, improving clinical trials and diagnostics. In this work, the dynamics of the skin were measured using a laser-based non-invasive optical sensor experiment. We measured the skin’s mechanical properties over time by analyzing its resonant frequencies and mode shapes. A nanocarrier gel and ketoconazole cream were topically applied to keep the skin hydrated and facilitate deeper penetration of the additives in the skin. Time-based research was used to assess the effect of different formulations on skin elasticity. Experimental results for the modulus of elasticity were compared with those obtained using Finite Element Analysis (FEA) simulations. We observed a reduction in frequencies of cream and gel-treated skin by 29.98% and 44.029%, respectively, compared to normal skin (frequency: 263.3±1.18 Hz and Modulus of elasticity: 7.56±2.60 MPa). A decrease in stiffness is attributed to increased water content, was observed in cream- and nanocarrier gel-treated skin compared to normal skin. Experimental and numerical results are found to be consistent with one another. This optical sensor-based approach has the potential for studying diseased skin mechanics and its response to gel and cream treatments, aiming to reduce skin disorder morbidity and severity.