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Soft polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) and silicone materials are widely used to reproduce the compliant, deformable behavior of human skin and soft tissue because their mechanical properties can be tuned across a broad range. However, very soft silicone formulations may contain low-molecular-weight components, residuals, or additives that can migrate through the material and accumulate at the surface over time.
This migration can change surface characteristics such as tack, friction, wettability, and interaction with complex aqueous fluids. For test mannequins intended to deliver repeatable consumer-product evaluations, these changes can make the skin mimic behave differently after storage or repeated use, reducing confidence that results remain comparable over time.
Materials, formulations, processing methods, barrier technologies, or residual-control strategies that limit migration while preserving the required softness and mechanical behavior could provide a stable foundation for durable, skin-like test surfaces and more consistent long-term testing.
We are looking for commercially available and/or developable soft, flexible PDMS/silicone materials for use as durable skin and tissue mimics, ideally available in coupon, bulk, or thin-shell form for screening and prototyping. Relevant solutions may come from analogous applications, such as prosthetic liners and wearable medical interfaces, breast and other implant materials, humanoid robotics, elastic toys, and adult and other products mimicking human tissue and skin.
- Soft, no-migration PDMS/silicone formulations with reduced mobile oligomers, oils, or residuals
- Commercial low-extractables silicone materials adaptable to skin and tissue mimics
- Cure, post-cure, extraction, or other processing approaches that reduce mobile residuals
- Flexible barrier layers, coatings, or films that eliminate migration from soft silicone substrates
- Mechanical performance: material properties within, or a credible pathway to achieve, a Young’s modulus E 10–100 kPa and elasticity ratio 50–70%
- Stability: material design and/or technical rationale supporting the ability to maintain relevant mechanical and surface properties over at least 6 months of use and storage
- Migration control: material design, processing approach, or barrier strategy with a credible pathway to eliminate or minimize extractables and leachables (E&L) migration to the surface to levels that do not meaningfully affect the intended tissue-mimic performance
- Baseline friction properties compatible with the target CoF range of approximately 0.4–0.6
- Existing E&L characterization, accelerated-aging data, or other evidence supporting long-term material stability
- Commercial candidates ready for screening
- Existing guidance or data on post-cure/extraction and residual control to reduce migration risk
- Hydrogels as standalone materials
- Non-durable surface treatments without a stability plan
- Silicone materials prone to significant tack drift, oil bleed, swelling, or blooming on their surfaces without a credible mitigation strategy (e.g., covered with a protective film/treatment)
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