RESUMEN
BACKGROUND: Cohesion is described as the force between particles of the same substance that acts to unite them. Contrary to rheology, there are currently no ready-made instruments designed to measure cohesion, or methods which could be easily adapted to gels. To study and compare the possible clinical effects from the cohesive properties of a gel, it is necessary to standardize the definition and measurement of cohesion. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to develop and evaluate methods for measuring cohesion. METHODS AND MATERIALS: Three different methods were evaluated and compared with measures of perceived cohesion; compression force, dispersion in water and drop weight. Two different families of fillers (Emervel and Restylane) were used for evaluating the different methods. RESULTS: The compression force did not reflect the measures of perceived cohesion. The dispersion method showed variable results over time, had some practical issues, and is evaluated by subjective assessment. The best correlation to the perceived cohesion was found with the drop weight method. CONCLUSION: The drop weight method which closely resembles the definition of cohesion (IUPAC) was considered to be the best method for measuring cohesion.