Systems Biomechanics of the Cell attempts to outline systems biomechanics of the cell as an emergent and promising discipline. The new field owes conceptually to cell mechanics, organism-level systems biomechanics, and biology of biochemical systems. Its distinct methodology is to elucidate the structure and behavior of the cell by analyzing the unintuitive collective effects of elementary physical forces that interact within the heritable cellular framework. The problematics amenable to this approach includes the variety of cellular activities that involve the form and movement of the cell body and boundary (nucleus, centrosome, microtubules, cortex, and membrane). Among the elementary system effects in the biomechanics of the cell, instability of symmetry, emergent irreversibility, and multiperiodic dissipative motion can be noted. Research results from recent journal articles are placed in this unifying framework. It is suggested that the emergent discipline has the potential to expand the spectrum of questions asked about the cell, and to further clarify the physical nature of animate matter and motion.

The book is written by leading experts in the field presenting an up-to-date view of the subject matter in a didactically sound manner. It presents a review of the current knowledge of the behaviour of soft tissues in the cardiovascular system under mechanical loads, and the importance of constitutive laws in understanding the underlying mechanics is highlighted. Cells are also described together with arteries, tendons and ligaments, heart, and other biological tissues of current research interest in biomechanics. This includes experimental, continuum mechanical and computational perspectives, with the emphasis on nonlinear behaviour, and the simulation of mechanical procedures such as balloon angioplasty.

Introductory Biomechanics is a new, integrated text written specifically for engineering students. It provides a broad overview of this important branch of the rapidly growing field of bioengineering. A wide selection of topics is presented, ranging from the mechanics of single cells to the dynamics of human movement. No prior biological knowledge is assumed and in each chapter, the relevant anatomy and physiology are first described. The biological system is then analyzed from a mechanical viewpoint by reducing it to its essential elements, using the laws of mechanics and then tying mechanical insights back to biological function. This integrated approach provides students with a deeper understanding of both the mechanics and the biology than from qualitative study alone. The text is supported by a wealth of illustrations, tables and examples, a large selection of suitable problems and hundreds of current references, making it an essential textbook for any biomechanics course.

Fundamentals of Biomechanics: From Cells to Organ Systems combines biology with engineering to provide a comprehensive overview of biomechanics. It covers cell, tissue, and fluid mechanics in a way that is easy to understand, requiring only a basic background in biology and mechanics. The book includes a wide range of topics, from single-cell mechanics to forces in the musculoskeletal system. Each chapter provides an introduction to biological systems, along with examples and practice problems throughout the text. The book also offers step-by-step derivation of equations from principles. This textbook has been classroom-tested and is designed for advanced undergraduate engineering courses in bioengineering, biomechanics, and physiology. It is also a valuable reference for graduate students, practicing engineers, and medical professionals. Integrates biology with engineering; Includes examples and practice problems throughout the text; Requires a limited background in biology and mechanics.

The application of methodological approaches and mathematical formalisms proper to Physics and Engineering to investigate and describe biological processes and design biological structures has led to the development of many disciplines in the context of computational biology and biotechnology. The best known applicative domain is tissue engineering and its branches. Recent domains of interest are in the field of biophysics, e.g.: multiscale mechanics of biological membranes and films and filaments; multiscale mechanics of adhesion; biomolecular motors and force generation. Modern hypotheses, models, and tools are currently emerging and resulting from the convergence of the methods and phylosophycal apporaches of the different research areas and disciplines. All these emerging approaches share the purpose of disentangling the complexity of organisms, tissues, and cells and mimiking the function of living systems. The contributions presented in this book are current research highlights of six challenging and representative applicative domains of phyisical, engineering, and computational approaches in medicine and biology, i.e tissue engineering, modelling of molecular structures, cell mechanics and cell adhesión processes, cancer physics, and physico-chemical processes of metabolic interactions. Each chapter presents a compendium or a review of the original results achieved by authors in the last years. Furthermore, the book also wants to pinpoint the questions that are still open and that could propel the future research.

Genetic information determines the composition of molecules comprising cytoskeletal elements, membranes and receptors. The supramolecular arrangement of these components represents a self-assembly process controlled by physicochemical and mechanical interactions. This general hypothesis demarcates the aim of studying cellular mechanics. Description and evaluation of mechanical properties of cells and their organelles, as well as of the forces exerted by them, is the scope of this book on Cytomechanics. Emphasis is laid on the role of mechanical properties in the generation of shape and cytoplasmic motion, and on the basic principles and components determining mechanical properties.

The mechanics of biological tissues is a multidisciplinary and rapidly expanding area of research. This book points to important directions combining mechanical sciences with the new developments in biology. It delivers articles on mechanics of tissues at the molecular, cellular, tissue and organ levels.