![]() The monitoring of muscular moduli enables more proactive screening of the area at risk (Supplementary Fig. Mechanical characterization is also critical in the diagnosis and rehabilitation of many musculoskeletal diseases and injuries. Frequent inspections of the stiffness of these tumours are required for growth-stage assessment and therapy guidance 13. Additionally, in some tumours, changes in stiffness can occur as they grow in certain developmental stages 7, and these changes can happen quickly (Supplementary Fig. For instance, the stiffnesses of tumours are known to be different from those of healthy tissues 6. The monitoring of such properties can provide key information about disease progression, and guide intervention in a timely manner 4, 5. Most importantly, the mechanical properties of diseased tissues can often reflect pathophysiological conditions. Frequent mechanical characterizations of various organs allow timely evaluation of tissue growth, metabolic state, immunologic function and hormone regulation 1, 2, 3. The mechanical properties of human tissues are vital for the structure and function of human physiological systems 1. The technology may facilitate the diagnosis and treatment of diseases affecting tissue biomechanics. We used the device to map three-dimensional distributions of the Young’s modulus of tissues ex vivo, to detect microstructural damage in the muscles of volunteers before the onset of soreness and to monitor the dynamic recovery process of muscle injuries during physiotherapies. The array conforms to human skin and acoustically couples with it, allowing for accurate elastographic imaging, which we validated via magnetic resonance elastography. Here we describe a stretchable ultrasonic array for performing serial non-invasive elastographic measurements of tissues up to 4 cm beneath the skin at a spatial resolution of 0.5 mm. However, current methods are invasive, can be used only for short-term measurements, or have insufficient penetration depth or spatial resolution. Serial assessment of the biomechanical properties of tissues can be used to aid the early detection and management of pathophysiological conditions, to track the evolution of lesions and to evaluate the progress of rehabilitation. Stretchable ultrasonic arrays for the three-dimensional mapping of the modulus of deep tissue ![]()
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