Biomimicking Mechanical Properties of Human Skin: A State-of-the-Art Review

Abstract

Artificial skin simulants that reproduce the mechanical response of human skin are important for surgical training, device evaluation, impact assessment, and ballistic testing. Although in vivo and ex vivo characterisation methods for human native skin are physiologically relevant, they are limited by ethical constraints, anatomical variability, restricted accessibility, and difficulties in controlling hydration, boundary conditions, and strain rate for procedural testing. Consequently, recent research has focused on surgically relevant skin simulants that prioritise mechanical strength, durability, reproducibility, and realistic handling characteristics over complete biological functionality. These simulants include natural biomaterials, such as collagen, gelatin, alginate, silk protein, and polysaccharide-based bioinks, and synthetic materials, including silicone, polyurethane, foams, rubbers, gels, and hydrogels. They are fabricated using casting, scaffold fabrication, and additive-manufacturing approaches to achieve controlled thickness, hardness, surface morphology, and structural properties. Current constructs aim to approximate elastic modulus, tensile behaviour, puncture resistance, cutting resistance, and failure behaviour while remaining affordable and accessible. This review summarises current in vivo, ex vivo, and synthetic approaches for approximating skin mechanics, emphasising materials and fabrication routes for surgical-training phantoms, and identifies remaining gaps in anisotropy, durability, rate-dependent behaviour, and functional acceptance for healthcare education and device-testing applications.