Let us consider a single microgel network constituted by a total of N mon number of monomers, N ch effective number of chains crosslinked by N cross tetrafunctional crosslinkers, with N = N mon /N ch monomers per chain. Assuming the microgel network to be spherical with swollen equilibrium radius a, the linear deformation factor α is given by α = a a coll (5) with a coll the dry microgel radius, i.e. the radius of a collapsed (dry) microgel. The latter can be estimated assuming the monomers pack with a volume fraction equal to the one from random close packing.