  The presented study aims to assess the mechanical behaviour of the anterior
abdominal wall based on an in vivo experiment on humans. Full-field measurement
of abdominal wall displacement during changes of intra-abdominal pressure is
performed using a digital image correlation (DIC) system. Continuous
measurement in time enables the observation of changes in the strain field
during breathing. The understanding of the mechanical behaviour of a living
human abdominal wall is important for the proper design of surgical meshes used
for ventral hernia repair, which was also a motivation for the research
presented below.
  The research refers to the strain field of a loaded abdominal wall and
presents the evolution of principal strains and their directions in the case of
12 subjects, 8 male and 4 female. Peritoneal dialysis procedure allows for the
measurement of intra-abdominal pressure after fluid introduction.
  High variability among patients is observed, also in terms of principal
strain direction. Subjects exhibit intra-abdominal pressure of values from 11
to 21cmH2O. However, the strain values are not strongly correlated with the
pressure value, indicated variability of material properties.
