Patent ID: 8226235

Claim:
A device for determining a dynamic deformation characteristic of an object having a deformable surface, comprising: a topographer component that is capable of making a spatially resolved measurement of a selected topographical characteristic of the object both before and during a deformation time interval; a non-contact object surface-deformer component disposed along a first, directionally-independent device axis, which is capable of providing a non-contact deformation force during the deformation time interval; and a controller/processor component connected to the topographer component and the non-contact object surface-deformer component, wherein the topographer component and the non-contact object surface-deformer component are operationally integrated so as to provide an object surface deformation force via the non-contact object surface-deformer component during the deformation time interval and to make the spatially resolved measurement of the selected topographical characteristic of the object via the topographer component both before and during the deformation time interval over which the object surface is deformed.