ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the mechanical characteristics of soft tissues. Soft tissues are defined as the tissues that support and connect body structures. They include skin, muscles, fat, tendons, ligaments, blood vessels, nerves, cartilages, and other tissue matrices. In some cases, they are simply defined as body tissues that exclude hard tissues such as bones, teeth, and nails. As bones, a major component of nonsoft tissues, represent 12%–15% of the human body mass, it can be concluded that most of the human body is composed of soft tissues. Soft tissues are known for high flexibility and soft mechanical properties, differentiating them from mineralized stiff tissues, such as bones (Holzapfel 2001).
