Biomechanics: Principles and Applications

Citation

Peterson, D. R., & Bronzino, J. D. (Eds.). (2008). Biomechanics: Principles and Applications (2nd ed.). CRC Press.

Chapter Summary

This is an edited volume of about 350 pages, with twenty chapters by named specialists. According to the publisher, the chapters are drawn from the third edition of The Biomedical Engineering Handbook, with substantial updates and revisions and one entirely new chapter on modelling in cellular biomechanics. The chapters are grouped below by topic, in the order of the publisher's contents.

Musculoskeletal mechanics: Mechanics of Hard Tissue; Musculoskeletal Soft Tissue Mechanics; Joint-Articulating Surface Motion; Joint Lubrication; Analysis of Gait

The book opens with the musculoskeletal system, treating hard tissue (J. L. Katz), musculoskeletal soft tissue (R. L. Lieber and T. J. Burkholder), the motion of articulating joint surfaces (K. R. Kaufman and K. N. An), joint lubrication (M. J. Furey) and gait analysis (R. B. Davis, S. Õunpuu and P. A. DeLuca). The publisher describes this block as covering hard- and soft-tissue and joint mechanics and their application to human function.

Impact biomechanics: Mechanics of Head/Neck; Biomechanics of Chest and Abdomen Impact

Two chapters by A. I. King and D. C. Viano deal with the mechanics of the head and neck and with chest and abdominal impact.

Cardiovascular biomechanics: Cardiac Biomechanics; Heart Valve Dynamics; Arterial Macrocirculatory Hemodynamics; Mechanics of Blood Vessels; The Venous System

These chapters follow the circulation from the heart (A. D. McCulloch) and heart valves (A. P. Yoganathan, J. D. Lemmon and J. T. Ellis) through large-artery haemodynamics (B. B. Lieber) and blood vessel mechanics (T. R. Canfield and P. B. Dobrin) to the venous system (A. A. Shoukas and C. F. Rothe). The publisher groups them with the book's treatment of biofluid mechanics and circulatory dynamics.

Microcirculation and transport: Mechanics, Molecular Transport, and Regulation in the Microcirculation; Mechanics and Deformability of Hematocytes; Mechanics of Tissue/Lymphatic Transport

These chapters move to small scales: the microcirculation (A. S. Pope and R. N. Pittman), the deformability of blood cells (R. E. Waugh and R. M. Hochmuth) and tissue and lymphatic transport (G. W. Schmid-Schönbein and A. R. Hargens). The publisher mentions blood cell mechanics and transport as part of its circulatory coverage.

Cellular modelling: Modeling in Cellular Biomechanics

A. A. Spector and R. Tran-Son-Tay contribute the chapter the publisher identifies as new to this edition, which introduces current methods and strategies for modelling cellular mechanics. It reflects the publisher's point that biomechanics now investigates tissues, cells and molecules as well as whole-body systems.

Hearing, balance and exercise: Cochlear Mechanics; Vestibular Mechanics; Exercise Physiology; Factors Affecting Mechanical Work in Humans

The last four chapters cover the mechanics of the cochlea (C. R. Steele and colleagues) and the vestibular system (W. Grant), then exercise physiology (A. T. Johnson and C. R. Dooly) and the factors that affect mechanical work in humans (B. F. Hurley and A. T. Johnson). The publisher describes them as covering the mechanical functions and significance of the human ear and the performance characteristics of the body during exercise.

Key Concepts

Musculoskeletal and impact mechanics

• Hard and soft tissue mechanics: the mechanical behaviour of hard tissue and of musculoskeletal soft tissue, covered in the first two chapters.
• Joint mechanics: articulating-surface motion and lubrication in joints.
• Gait analysis: measuring and interpreting walking.
• Impact biomechanics: the mechanics of head, neck, chest and abdomen under impact.

Cardiovascular and transport mechanics

• Haemodynamics: arterial flow, the mechanics of blood vessels and the venous system.
• Heart and valve mechanics: cardiac biomechanics and heart valve dynamics.
• Microcirculation and blood cells: transport and deformability at small scales.
• Tissue and lymphatic transport: movement of fluid and molecules through tissue.

Cells, senses and exercise

• Cellular biomechanics modelling: models for the mechanics of the cell.
• Cochlear and vestibular mechanics: the mechanical function of the inner ear.
• Mechanical work in humans: exercise physiology and the factors limiting work output.

Critical Analysis

Strengths

• Breadth in one short volume. The contents run from bone and joints through the circulation to the cell, the ear and exercise, in about 350 pages. The list includes topics such as impact biomechanics, cochlear and vestibular mechanics and lymphatic transport.
• Specialist authorship. Each chapter is attributed to one or two named researchers, so a reader who needs the treatment of one topic gets an account written by someone working in that area.
• Subsystem and system models together. The publisher stresses that the book combines system-level models with models of tissues, cells and molecules, and the added cellular-modelling chapter reflects that aim.
• Visual and quantitative support. The publisher cites more than 140 illustrations, 60 tables and a variety of equations for modelling biomechanical behaviour.

Limitations

• A reference more than a course text. The publisher calls it a "complete, concise reference" that also serves as an introduction for novices. Chapters come from a handbook and are written independently, so notation, depth and prerequisites will vary from chapter to chapter, and the contents list shows no introductory chapter on basic mechanics.
• No evidence of exercises. The publisher's description mentions illustrations, tables and equations but does not mention end-of-chapter problems; check a copy before adopting it for a course that depends on problem sets.
• Selective coverage of movement. Human movement is represented by one chapter on gait analysis and the two exercise chapters. The publisher's description does not mention biomedical device design, so readers wanting that should look elsewhere.

Where It Fits in the Course

This volume is a broad survey reference rather than a first course. Özkaya and colleagues' Fundamentals of Biomechanics builds statics, dynamics and deformable-body mechanics from first principles for readers without an engineering background, and Knudson's Fundamentals of Biomechanics centres on human movement with algebra-level calculation; either is an easier starting point. Ethier and Simmons's Introductory Biomechanics: From Cells to Organisms is a single, continuous course text for students with an engineering background and covers some of the same ground, including the circulation, muscles and locomotion, in textbook form, with each chapter beginning from the relevant anatomy and physiology.

For depth, Humphrey and O'Rourke's An Introduction to Biomechanics develops continuum mechanics of solids and fluids in full, and Fung's Biomechanics: Mechanical Properties of Living Tissues is the classic monograph on the constitutive behaviour of biological materials. Peterson and Bronzino's book is useful beside any of these when a project needs an overview of a topic they do not cover, such as head and neck injury mechanics or cochlear mechanics.

How to Use This Book

Read it selectively. After a first course in biomechanics, choose the group of chapters that matches a project: the first five for the musculoskeletal system, the next two for injury mechanics, the cardiovascular and microcirculation chapters for blood flow and vessel mechanics, the cellular-modelling chapter as a starting point for cell mechanics, and the final four for hearing, balance and exercise.

Because the chapters were written separately, begin each by checking its prerequisites rather than reading in strict order. The chapter authors' names are a useful guide to the primary literature of each area. Students who need a structured sequence of lectures and exercises should pair this volume with one of the course texts named above and use it as a source of further reading.