Shear forces acting on the skin are an important cause for tissue trauma, such as pressure ulcers. These shear forces that develop in the contact with a counter surface, such as clothing, bedding or a prosthetic liner is strongly related to the amount of water present in the contact, however, the exact relationship between moisture and frictional behaviour is unclear. This is partially because friction is not a material parameter and thus strongly depends on a range of other system characteristics, and partially because ‘<i>skin moisture</i>’ is not unambiguously defined and is typically measured in an indirect way. In this work we present friction experiments that were conducted on in vivo human skin using woven textile samples. By controlling the temperature and the humidity of the environment, we show an increased friction at both increasing temperature and humidity. The observed effects were more pronounced at warmer and more humid environments, meaning there is a clear link with the absolute amount of water available in the ‘tribosystem’. Following this, we investigated interpersonal differences by combining in-vivo skin-textile interaction experiments with in-vivo FTIR measurements. The observed spectra indicate that both the moisture content and the characteristics of skin sebum play an important role, with positive correlations found between moisture and friction, and skin sebum viscosity and friction. We conclude that spectroscopy techniques can be used as a tool to predict individuals with ‘naturally high friction’ and may be at risk of developing skin trauma.

Relating dermal friction to water and skin moisture content

2019 Fall National Meeting

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