The mechanical characteristics of tissue can reflect its biochemical content and, therefore, be a powerful tool in the diagnosis of diseases. Many different methods have been developed for testing the mechanical properties of tissue, such as aspiration, indentation and shear wave elastography. Soft tissues are, however, more complex in behaviour than current commercial tissue-mimicking materials and the models used in measurement methods. Complex behaviours of the tissue include anisotropy and heterogeneous elasticity. The oversimplified models assumed in different measuring methods often neglect the effects of these behaviours, resulting in inaccuracies. The aim of this study was to develop a tissue-mimicking material able to capture the complexity of tissue mechanical behaviour. It will be used to improve mechanical property measuring methods by quantitatively determining how complexities in tissue behaviour affect the measurements made and evaluating the effectiveness of methods designed to overcome it, and will be used to train users for consistency in measurement. The tissue-mimicking material designed in this study focuses on the mechanical properties of the cervix as measured by shear wave elastography. The characteristic behaviours of cervical tissues highlighted are anisotropy, a wide range of elasticity that changes with gestational age and an elasticity gradient across the tissue. Magnetorheological gels were used as their elastic properties can be tuned with the application of magnetic fields. The sample was simulated with the finite-element software COMSOL before being tested by shear wave elastography and the INSTRON universal material testing machine. It had an elasticity range of 6.75–11.06 kPa, which is similar to that of cervical tissue. It was determined that a change in the orientation of the probe with respect to the orientation of anisotropy can cause up to a 30 % increase in measured elasticity. There was a 16% decrease in elasticity across the sample.

组织的力学特性可以反映其生化含量，因此是诊断疾病的有力工具。已经开发了许多不同的方法来测试组织的机械性能，例如抽吸、压痕和剪切波弹性成像。然而，软组织在行为上比当前的商业组织模拟材料和测量方法中使用的模型更复杂。组织的复杂行为包括各向异性和异质弹性。在不同的测量方法中假设的过于简化的模型常常忽略这些行为的影响，从而导致不准确。这项研究的目的是开发一种能够捕捉组织机械行为复杂性的组织模拟材料。它将用于通过定量确定组织行为的复杂性如何影响所进行的测量并评估旨在克服它的方法的有效性来改进机械性能测量方法，并将用于培训用户进行测量的一致性。本研究中设计的组织模拟材料侧重于通过剪切波弹性成像测量的子宫颈的机械特性。突出显示的宫颈组织的特征行为是各向异性、随孕龄变化的广泛弹性和跨组织的弹性梯度。使用磁流变凝胶是因为它们的弹性特性可以通过施加磁场来调整。样品用有限元软件 COMSOL 进行模拟，然后通过剪切波弹性成像和 INSTRON 万能材料试验机进行测试。它的弹性范围为 6.75-11.06 kPa，与宫颈组织的弹性范围相似。已确定探针的方向相对于各向异性方向的变化可导致测得的弹性增加多达 30%。整个样品的弹性降低了 16%。