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Page of one of the first works ofBiomechanics (De Motu Animaliumof Giovanni Alfonso Borelli)

BiomechanicsFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Biomechanics is the study of the structure and function ofbiological systems such as humans, animals, plants, organs, andcells[1] by means of the methods of mechanics.[2]

Contents

1 Word history2 Method3 Subfields

3.1 Sports biomechanics3.2 Continuum biomechanics3.3 Biofluid mechanics3.4 Biotribology3.5 Comparative biomechanics3.6 Plant biomechanics3.7 Computational biomechanics3.8 Injury Biomechanics

4 History4.1 Antiquity4.2 Renaissance4.3 Industrial era

5 Applications6 Scientific journals7 Societies8 Software9 See also10 References11 Further reading12 External links

Word history

The word "biomechanics" (1899) and the related "biomechanical" (1856) were coined by NikolaiBernstein from the Ancient Greek words βίος bios "life" and μηχανική, mēchanikē "mechanics", to referto the study of the mechanical principles of living organisms, particularly their movement andstructure.[3]

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Method

Biomechanics is closely related to engineering, because it often uses traditional engineering sciences toanalyze biological systems. Some simple applications of Newtonian mechanics and/or materials sciencescan supply correct approximations to the mechanics of many biological systems. Applied mechanics,most notably mechanical engineering disciplines such as continuum mechanics, mechanism analysis,structural analysis, kinematics and dynamics play prominent roles in the study of biomechanics.

Usually biological systems are much more complex than man-built systems. Numerical methods arehence applied in almost every biomechanical study. Research is done in an iterative process ofhypothesis and verification, including several steps of modeling, computer simulation and experimentalmeasurements.

Subfields

Applied subfields of biomechanics include:

Soft body dynamicsKinesiology (kinetics + physiology)Animal locomotion & Gait analysisMusculoskeletal & orthopedic biomechanicsCardiovascular biomechanicsErgonomyHuman factors engineering & occupational biomechanicsImplant (medicine), Orthotics & ProsthesisRehabilitationSports biomechanicsAllometryInjury biomechanics

Sports biomechanics

In sports biomechanics, the laws of mechanics are applied to human movement in order to gain a greaterunderstanding of athletic performance and to reduce sport injuries as well. Elements of mechanicalengineering (e.g., strain gauges), electrical engineering (e.g., digital filtering), computer science (e.g.,numerical methods), gait analysis (e.g., force platforms), and clinical neurophysiology (e.g., surfaceEMG) are common methods used in sports biomechanics.[4]

Biomechanics in sports, can be stated as the muscular, joint and skeletal actions of the body during theexecution of a given task, skill and/or technique. Proper understanding of biomechanics relating to sportsskill has the greatest implications on: sport's performance, rehabilitation and injury prevention, alongwith sport mastery. As noted by Doctor Michael Yessis, one could say that best athlete is the one thatexecutes his or her skill the best.[5]

Continuum biomechanics

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Red blood cells

The mechanical analysis of biomaterials and biofluids is usually carried forth with the concepts ofcontinuum mechanics. This assumption breaks down when the length scales of interest approach theorder of the micro structural details of the material. One of the most remarkable characteristic ofbiomaterials is their hierarchical structure. In other words, the mechanical characteristics of thesematerials rely on physical phenomena occurring in multiple levels, from the molecular all the way up tothe tissue and organ levels.

Biomaterials are classified in two groups, hard and soft tissues. Mechanical deformation of hard tissues(like wood, shell and bone) may be analysed with the theory of linear elasticity. On the other hand, softtissues (like skin, tendon, muscle and cartilage) usually undergo large deformations and thus theiranalysis rely on the finite strain theory and computer simulations. The interest in continuumbiomechanics is spurred by the need for realism in the development of medical simulation.[6]:568

Biofluid mechanics

Biological fluid mechanics, or biofluid mechanics, is the study of both gasand liquid fluid flows in or around biological organisms. An often studiedliquid biofluids problem is that of blood flow in the human cardiovascularsystem. Under certain mathematical circumstances, blood flow can bemodelled by the Navier–Stokes equations. In vivo whole blood is assumed tobe an incompressible Newtonian fluid. However, this assumption fails whenconsidering forward flow within arterioles. At the microscopic scale, theeffects of individual red blood cells become significant, and whole blood canno longer be modelled as a continuum. When the diameter of the bloodvessel is just slightly larger than the diameter of the red blood cell theFahraeus–Lindquist effect occurs and there is a decrease in wall shear stress.However, as the diameter of the blood vessel decreases further, the red bloodcells have to squeeze through the vessel and often can only pass in single file. In this case, the inverseFahraeus–Lindquist effect occurs and the wall shear stress increases.

An example of a gaseous biofluids problem is that of human respiration. Recently, respiratory systems ininsects have been studied for bioinspiration for designing improved microfluidic devices.[7]

Biotribology

The main aspects of Contact mechanics & tribology are related to friction, wear and lubrication. Whenthe two surfaces come in contact during motion i.e. rub against each other, friction, wear and lubricationeffects are very important to analyze in order to determine the performance of the material. Biotribologyis a study of friction, wear and lubrication of biological systems especially human joints such as hips andknees. For example, femoral and tibial components of knee implant routinely rub against each otherduring daily activity such as walking or stair climbing. If the performance of tibial component needs tobe analyzed, the principles of biotribology are used to determine the wear performance of the implantand lubrication effects of synovial fluid. In addition, the theory of contact mechanics also becomes veryimportant for wear analysis.

Comparative biomechanics

Comparative biomechanics is the application of biomechanics to non-human organisms, whether used togain greater insights into humans (as in physical anthropology) or into the functions, ecology andadaptations of the organisms themselves. Common areas of investigation are Animal locomotion andfeeding, as these have strong connections to the organism's fitness and impose high mechanical

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Chinstrap Penguin leaping over water

demands. Animal locomotion, has many manifestations, including running, jumping and flying.Locomotion requires energy to overcome friction, drag, inertia, and gravity, though which factorpredominates varies with environment.

Comparative biomechanics overlaps strongly with many otherfields, including ecology, neurobiology, developmental biology,ethology, and paleontology, to the extent of commonlypublishing papers in the journals of these other fields.Comparative biomechanics is often applied in medicine (withregards to common model organisms such as mice and rats) aswell as in biomimetics, which looks to nature for solutions toengineering problems.

Plant biomechanics

The application of biomechanical principles to plants and plant organs has developed into the subfield ofplant biomechanics.[8]

Computational biomechanics

Over the past decade the Finite element method has become an established alternative to in vivo surgicalassessment. The main advantage of Computational Biomechanics lies in its ability to determine theendo-anatomical response of an anatomy, without being subject to ethical restrictions.[9] This has led FEmodelling to the point of becoming ubiquitous in several fields of Biomechanics while several projectshave even adopted an open source philosophy (e.g. BioSpine).

Injury Biomechanics

History

Antiquity

Aristotle wrote the first book on the motion of animals, De Motu Animalium, or On the Movement ofAnimals.[10] He not only saw animals' bodies as mechanical systems, but pursued questions such as thephysiological difference between imagining performing an action and actually doing it.[11] In anotherwork, On the Parts of Animals, he provided an accurate description of how the ureter uses peristalsis tocarry blood from the kidneys to the bladder.[6]:2

Renaissance

Probably Leonardo da Vinci could be recognized as the first true biomechanist, because he was the firstto study anatomy in the context of mechanics. He analyzed muscle forces as acting along linesconnecting origins and insertions and studied joint function. He also intended to mimic some animalfeatures in his machines. For example, he studied the flight of birds to find means by which humanscould fly. Because horses were the principal source of mechanical power in that time, he studied theirmuscular systems to design machines that would better benefit from the forces applied by thisanimal.[12]

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Galileo Galilei was interested in the strength of bones and suggested that bones are hollow for thisaffords maximum strength with minimum weight. He noted that animals' masses increasedisproportionately to their size, and their bones must consequently also disproportionately increase ingirth, adapting to loadbearing rather than mere size the bending strength of a tubular structure such as abone is increased relative to its weight. This surely was one of the first grasps of principles of biologicaloptimization.[12]

In the 16th century, Descartes suggested a philosophic system whereby all living systems, including thehuman body (but not the soul), are simply machines ruled by the same mechanical laws, an idea that didmuch to promote and sustain biomechanical study. Giovanni Alfonso Borelli embraced this idea andstudied walking, running, jumping, the flight of birds, the swimming of fish, and even the piston actionof the heart within a mechanical framework. He could determine the position of the human center ofgravity, calculate and measured inspired and expired air volumes, and showed that inspiration is muscle-driven and expiration is due to tissue elasticity. Borelli was the first to understand that the levers of themusculoskeletal system magnify motion rather than force, so that muscles must produce much largerforces than those resisting the motion. Influenced by the work of Galileo, whom he personally knew, hehad an intuitive understanding of static equilibrium in various joints of the human body well beforeNewton published the laws of motion.[13]

Industrial era

In the 19th century Étienne-Jules Marey used cinematography to scientifically investigate locomotion.He opened the field of modern 'motion analysis' by being the first to correlate ground reaction forceswith movement. In Germany, the brothers Ernst Heinrich Weber and Wilhelm Eduard Weberhypothesized a great deal about human gait, but it was Christian Wilhelm Braune who significantlyadvanced the science using recent advances in engineering mechanics. During the same period, theengineering mechanics of materials began to flourish in France and Germany under the demands of theindustrial revolution. This led to the rebirth of bone biomechanics when the railroad engineer KarlCulmann and the anatomist Hermann von Meyer compared the stress patterns in a human femur withthose in a similarly shaped crane. Inspired by this finding Julius Wolff proposed the famous Wolff's lawof bone remodeling.[14]

Applications

The study of biomechanics ranges from the inner workings of a cell to the movement and developmentof limbs, to the mechanical properties of soft tissue, and bones. Some simple examples of biomechanicsresearch include the investigation of the forces that act on limbs, the aerodynamics of bird and insectflight, the hydrodynamics of swimming in fish, and locomotion in general across all forms of life, fromindividual cells to whole organisms. The biomechanics of human beings is a core part of kinesiology. Aswe develop a greater understanding of the physiological behavior of living tissues, researchers are ableto advance the field of tissue engineering, as well as develop improved treatments for a wide array ofpathologies.

Biomechanics is also applied to studying human musculoskeletal systems. Such research utilizes forceplatforms to study human ground reaction forces and infrared videography to capture the trajectories ofmarkers attached to the human body to study human 3D motion. Research also applieselectromyography[15] (EMG) system to study the muscle activation. By this, it is feasible to investigatethe muscle responses to the external forces as well as perturbations.

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Biomechanics is widely used in orthopedic industry to design orthopedic implants for human joints,dental parts, external fixations and other medical purposes. Biotribology is a very important part of it. Itis a study of the performance and function of biomaterials used for orthopedic implants. It plays a vitalrole to improve the design and produce successful biomaterials for medical and clinical purposes. Onesuch example is in tissue engineered cartilage.[16]

Scientific journals

Among the journals devoted to biomechanics are the following:[17][18]

Societies

The following societies include the international societies and their affiliates:[19][20]

Annual Review of Biomedical EngineeringBiomechanics and Modeling in MechanobiologyClinical BiomechanicsComputer Methods in Biomechanics and Biomedical EngineeringGait & postureInternational Journal of Biomedical and Clinical EngineeringJournal of ArthroplastyJournal of Applied BiomechanicsJournal of Bone and Joint SurgeryJournal of Biomechanical EngineeringJournal of BiomechanicsJournal of Electromycography & KinesiologyThe Journal of Experimental BiologyJournal of the Mechanical Behavior of Biomedical MaterialsSports Biomechanics

American Society of BiomechanicsAustralian and New Zealand Society of BiomechanicsBrazilian Society of BiomechanicsBritish Association of Sport and Exercise SciencesBulgarian Society of BiomechanicsCanadian Society for BiomechanicsChinese Society of Sports BiomechanicsCzech Society of BiomechanicsDanish Society of BiomechanicsEuropean Society of BiomechanicsGerman Society of Biomechanics

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Software

simtk-opensim

See also

BiomechatronicsEvolutionary physiologyMechanics of sex

References

1. ^ R. McNeill Alexander (2005) Mechanics of animal movement (http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6VRT-4GXV66S-6&_user=10&_coverDate=08%2F23%2F2005&_rdoc=6&_fmt=high&_orig=browse&_srch=doc-info(%23toc%236243%232005%23999849983%23604671%23FLA%23display%23Volume)&_cdi=6243&_sort=d&_docanchor=&view=c&_ct=27&_acct=C000050221&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=10&md5=a2e1364289e07dd87feb65f9dc4086c0), Current Biology Volume 15, Issue 16, 23 August 2005, PagesR616-R619.

2. ^ Hatze, Herbert (1974). "The meaning of the term biomechanics". Journal of Biomechanics 7: 189–190.doi:10.1016/0021-9290(74)90060-8 (http://dx.doi.org/10.1016%2F0021-9290%2874%2990060-8).

3. ^ Oxford English Dictionary, Third Edition, November 2010, s.vv.(http://www.oed.com.proxy.bc.edu/view/Entry/19232)

4. ^ Bartlett, Roger (1997). Introduction to sports biomechanics (1 ed.). New York, NY: Routledge. p. 304.ISBN 0-419-20840-2.

5. ^ Dr. Michael Yessis (2008). Secrets of Russian Sports Fitness & Training. ISBN 978-0-9817180-2-6.

6. ^ a b Fung 19937. ^ Aboelkassem, Yasser (2013). "Selective pumping in a network: insect-style microscale flow transport".

Bioinspiration & Biomimetics 8 (2): 026004. Bibcode:2013BiBi....8b6004A(http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2013BiBi....8b6004A). doi:10.1088/1748-3182/8/2/026004

Hellenic Society of BiomechanicsInternational Society of BiomechanicsInternational Society of Biomechanics in SportsJapanese Society of BiomechanicsKorean Society for Orthopaedic Research, Biomechanics, and Basic SciencePolish Society of BiomechanicsPortuguese Society of BiomechanicsRussian Society of BiomechanicsSociété de Biomécanique (French speaking countries)Taiwanese Society of Biomechanics

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(http://dx.doi.org/10.1088%2F1748-3182%2F8%2F2%2F026004).8. ^ Niklas, Karl J. (1992). Plant Biomechanics: An Engineering Approach to Plant Form and Function (1 ed.).

New York, NY: University Of Chicago Press. p. 622. ISBN 0-226-58631-6.9. ^ Tsouknidas, A., Savvakis, S., Asaniotis, Y., Anagnostidis, K., Lontos, A., Michailidis, N. (2013) The effect

of kyphoplasty parameters on the dynamic load transfer within the lumbar spine considering the response of abio-realistic spine segment. Clinical Biomechanics 28 (9-10), pp. 949-955.

10. ^ Abernethy, Bruce; Vaughan Kippers; Stephanie J. Hanrahan; Marcus G. Pandy; Alison M. McManus;Laurel MacKinnon. Biophysical foundations of human movement (3rd ed.). Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics.p. 84. ISBN 9781450431651.

11. ^ Martin, R. Bruce (October 23, 1999). "A genealogy of biomechanics"(http://www.asbweb.org/html/biomechanics/genealogy/genealogy.htm). Presidential Lecture presented at the23rd Annual Conference of the American Society of Biomechanics University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh PA.Retrieved 2 January 2014.

12. ^ a b Mason, Stephen (1962). A History of the Sciences. New York, NY: Collier Books. p. 550.13. ^ Humphrey, Jay D. (2003). "Continuum biomechanics of soft biological tissues"

(http://rspa.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/459/2029/3.full.pdf). In The Royal Society. Proceedings ofthe Royal Society of London A 459 (2029): 3–46. Bibcode:2003RSPSA.459....3H(http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2003RSPSA.459....3H). doi:10.1098/rspa.2002.1060(http://dx.doi.org/10.1098%2Frspa.2002.1060).

14. ^ R. Bruce Martin (23 October 1999). "A Genealogy of Biomechanics"(http://www.asbweb.org/html/biomechanics/genealogy/genealogy.htm). 23rd Annual Conference of theAmerican Society of Biomechanics. Retrieved 13 October 2010.

15. ^ Basmajian, J.V, & DeLuca, C.J. (1985) Muscles Alive: Their Functions Revealed, Fifth edition. Williams& Wilkins Publ.

16. ^ Whitney, G. A., Jayaraman, K., Dennis, J. E. and Mansour, J. M. (2014), Scaffold-free cartilage subjectedto frictional shear stress demonstrates damage by cracking and surface peeling. J Tissue Eng Regen Med. doi:10.1002/term.1925

17. ^ "Journals" (http://isbweb.org/information-services/journals). Information services. International Society ofBiomechanics. Retrieved 3 January 2014.

18. ^ "Ulrichsweb Global Serials Directory" (http://ulrichsweb.serialssolutions.com/login). Retrieved January2013.

19. ^ "ISB affiliate societies" (http://isbweb.org/affiliate-societies). International Society of Biomechanics.Retrieved 3 January 2014.

20. ^ "Affiliates" (http://www.esbiomech.org/?page_id=86). European Society of Biomechanics. Retrieved 3January 2014.

Further reading

Cowin, Stephen C., ed. (2008). Bone mechanics handbook (2nd ed.). New York: Informa Healthcare.ISBN 0-8493-9117-2.Fischer-Cripps, Anthony C. (2007). Introduction to contact mechanics (2nd ed.). New York: Springer.ISBN 0-387-68187-6.Fung, Y.-C. (1993). Biomechanics: Mechanical Properties of Living Tissues. New York: Springer-Verlag.ISBN 0-387-97947-6.

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Gurtin, Morton E. (1995). An introduction to continuum mechanics (6. [Dr.]. ed.). San Diego: Acad. Press.ISBN 978-0123097507.Humphrey, Jay D. (2002). Cardiovascular solid mechanics : cells, tissues, and organs. New York: Springer.ISBN 0-387-95168-7.Mazumdar, Jagan N. (1993). Biofluids mechanics (Reprint 1998. ed.). Singapore: World Scientific.ISBN 981-02-0927-4.Mow, Van C.; Huiskes, Rik, eds. (2005). Basic orthopaedic biomechanics & mechano-biology (3 ed.).Philadelphia: Lippincott, Williams & Wilkins. p. 2. ISBN 9780781739337.Peterson, Donald R.; Bronzino, Joseph D., eds. (2008). Biomechanics : principles and applications (2. rev.ed.). Boca Raton: CRC Press. ISBN 0-8493-8534-2.Temenoff, J.S.; Mikos, A.G. (2008). Biomaterials : the Intersection of biology and materials science(Internat. ed.). Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Pearson/Prentice Hall. ISBN 978-0-13-009710-1.Totten, George E.; Liang, Hong, eds. (2004). Mechanical tribology : materials, characterization, andapplications. New York: Marcel Dekker. ISBN 978-0824748739.Waite, Lee; Fine, Jerry (2007). Applied biofluid mechanics. New York: McGraw-Hill. ISBN 0-07-147217-7.Young, Donald F.; Bruce R. Munson; Theodore H. Okiishi (2004). A brief introduction to fluid mechanics(3rd ed.). Hoboken, N.J.: Wiley. ISBN 0-471-45757-4.

External links

Biomechanical stress analysis on bone parts & implants(http://www.photostress.com/category/case-studies/?subCategory=biomechanical)Biomechanics and Movement Science Listserver (Biomch-L) (http://biomch-l.isbweb.org/)Biomechanics Links (http://bones.ame.nd.edu/links.html)A Genealogy of Biomechanics(http://www.asbweb.org/html/biomechanics/genealogy/genealogy.htm)The Instituto de Biomecánica de Valencia (IBV – Biomechanics Institute of Valencia)(http://www.ibv.org/en)

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