Researchers to study physics of underwater walking

Around 360 million years ago, creatures trekked out of the water and onto dry land, becoming the first terrestrial animals. The colonization of land by animals may be one of the greatest evolutionary events in the history ...

Softer, processed foods changed the way ancient humans spoke

The human capacity for language divides our species from the rest of the animal kingdom. Language has not only allowed us to conquer all corners of the globe, but to devise writing, mathematics and all things thereafter.

Slug glue: A future with no sutures?

The materials for stitching up injuries and surgical wounds may have changed over the millennia, but the basic process of suturing tissue remains the same. In the 21st century, however, the method may finally become outdated.

Captured in silken netting and sticky hairs

The great ecological success of spiders is often substantiated by the evolution of silk and webs. Biologists of the Kiel University and the University of Bern now found an alternative adaptation to hunting prey: hairy adhesive ...

Cruise control starts runners on right 'note'

A new app based on technology designed at Simon Fraser University is helping runners to more effectively – and enjoyably – reach and maintain their pace or heart rate goals.

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Biomechanics

Biomechanics (from Ancient Greek: βίος "life" and μηχανική "mechanics") is the application of mechanical principles to biological systems, such as humans, animals, plants, organs, and cells. Perhaps one of the best definitions was provided by Herbert Hatze in 1974: "Biomechanics is the study of the structure and function of biological systems by means of the methods of mechanics". The word biomechanics developed during the early 1970s, describing the application of engineering mechanics to biological and medical systems. In Modern Greek, the corresponding term is εμβιομηχανική.

Biomechanics is closely related to engineering, because it often uses traditional engineering sciences to analyse biological systems. Some simple applications of Newtonian mechanics and/or materials sciences can 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 system are more complex than man-built systems. Numerical methods are hence applied in almost every biomechanical study. Research is done in a iterative process of hypothesis and verification, including several steps of modeling, computer simulation and experimental measurements.

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