A SYNTHETIC MEMBRANE FOR TESTING NEEDLE PENETRATION

Needle performance is primarily judged by its penetration through tiss ue. For detailed studies of needle performance, tissue is too heteroge neous and unstable and difficult to obtain. A homogeneous, stable, and readily available polyurethane substrate has been evaluated as a suit able alternative to biological tissue for evaluation of needle penetra tion. The needle penetration profiles through the synthetic substrate correlated very well with those through natural tissue. In addition, t he synthetic substrate was sensitive enough to easily detect a 20% inc rease in the force necessary to penetrate natural tissue. This polyure thane substrate offers a valid alternative to biological tissue for th e testing of needle penetration performance.