Mechanical parameters of human hair: possible application in the diagnosis and follow-up of hair disorders.

Mechanical analysis of human hair may provide the dermatologists with several markers of considerable diagnostic importance. In the present paper, using a new computerised experimental system, attempts were made firstly to interpret the curves of the elastic and viscous components of the mechanical behavior of human hair and secondly to determine characteristic parameters which correlate well with its structural features. In order to overcome methodological problems due to the inhomogeneous structure of human hair, mechanical parameters were defined which either depend on the cortical microstructure or correlate well with the size of hair medulla.