. 2020 Aug 12;41(6):NP521–NP537. doi: 10.1093/asj/sjaa226

Table 5.

Techniques Used to Measure Skin Biomechanics in Women With Cellulite

Technique	Measurement of cellulite severity	Used in clinical practice?	Used in research?	Comments
Measurement of skin elasticity^3,27,49	Skin elasticity measured by suction probe and combined with objective measures of cellulite severity	No	Yes	To date, no studies have shown skin elasticity to be a relevant assessment tool for measurement of cellulite severity
Measurement of skin surface roughness³⁴	Measured by 3D imaging and combined with objective measures of cellulite severity	No	Yes	Correlations reported between surface roughness and severity of cellulite
Measurement of skin surface profile (waviness)³⁵	Measured by 3D scanning and combined with objective measures of cellulite severity	No	Yes	Improvements in skin waviness have not been reported to correlate with cellulite severity
Optical computed tomography⁵³	Measured by reflecting infrared light from internal structures in the skin	No	Rarely	• Offers good resolution due to high frequency of infrared waves • However, infrared waves can only penetrate approximately 1000 μm into the skin; hence, only the epidermis and papillary dermis can be adequately visualized

3D, 3-dimensional.