Multifactorial Effects of Gelling Conditions on Mechanical Properties of Skin-Like Gelatin Membranes Intended for In Vitro Experimentation and Artificial Skin Models

The development of new cosmetic products, skin contact medical devices, skin medicaments, wound care devices, tattooing and piercing has experienced an impressive growth in recent years. In parallel, new restrictions to in vivo experimentation in animals and humans have been widely implemented by regulatory authorities. New knowledge about alternative materials for in vitro skin-related experimentation is required to overcome these severe limitations. This paper presents a set of three 4-D surface response equations describing the mechanical properties of skin-like gelatin membranes intended for use as an alternative biomaterial for in vitro skin-related experimentation. The membranes were obtained by a sol-gel method. The novelty of this contribution is the establishment of the cross-dependency effects of key synthesis conditions on the final mechanical properties of gelatin membranes. The results of this work are useful to produce gelatin membranes with tailored mechanical properties mimicking different types of human skins. In particular, membranes with Young's modulus of 1 MPa and maximum tensile strength of 0.85 MPa were obtained.

Automated summary

The development of skin-related products and medical devices has been growing rapidly, but there are increasing restrictions on in vivo experiments. Alternative materials for in vitro experiments are needed to overcome these limitations. This study presents a set of gelatin membranes produced by a sol-gel method, with tailored mechanical properties for different types of human skins.