Introductory Biomechanics: From Cells to Organisms

C. Ross Ethier, Craig A. Simmons

Cambridge University Press, Mar 12, 2007 - Technology & Engineering - 511 pages

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.

What people are saying

User Review -

Great book

User Review -

A excellent book with explanation in good details, if you are interested in the field of using mechanical engineering concept to understand biological systems, this is a must read. It is used as a text book at the department of Biomedical Engineering, Imperial College London(top 10 university in the world), so it can't be wrong, its a fantastic book.  

Contents

• Introduction: 1
• Cellular biomechanics: 18
• Hemodynamics: 119
• The circulatory system: 164
• The interstitium: 240
• Ocular biomechanics: 250
• The respiratory system: 282
• Muscles and movement: 332
• Skeletal biomechanics: 379
• Terrestrial locomotion: 444
• Appendix The electrocardiogram 489: 498

Popular passages

Page 8 - I inserted into it a brass pipe whose bore was 1/6 of an inch in diameter ; and to that, by means of another brass pipe which was fitly adapted to it, I fixed a glass tube, of nearly the same diameter, which was...

Page 6 - ... parts of the body, where it makes its way into the veins and porosities of the flesh, and then flows by the veins from the circumference on every side to the centre, from the lesser to the greater veins, and is by them finally discharged into the vena cava and right auricle of the heart...

Page 6 - ... pores of the flesh, and flows by the veins from the circumference on every side to the centre, from the lesser to the greater veins, and is by them finally discharged into the vena cava and right auricle of the heart, and this in such a quantity or in such a flux and reflux thither by the arteries, hither by the veins, as cannot possibly be supplied by the ingesta, and is much greater than can be required for mere purposes of nutrition; it is absolutely necessary to conclude that the blood in...

Page 8 - Pipe, whose bore was one sixth of an inch in diameter; and to that, by means of another brass Pipe which was fitly adapted to it, I fixed a glass Tube, of nearly the same diameter, which was...

Page 11 - Every change in the form and function of the bones or of their function alone is followed by certain definite changes in their internal architecture, and equally definite secondary alterations of their external conformation) in accordance with mathematical laws.

Page 8 - ... time the same vibrations up and down at and after each pulse, as it had, when it was at its full height; to which it would rise again, after forty or fifty pulses.

About the author

C. Ross Ethier is a Professor of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, the Canada Research Chair in Computational Mechanics, and the Director of the Institute of Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering at the University of Toronto, with cross-appointment to the Department of Ophthalmology & Vision Sciences. His research focuses on biomechanical factors in glaucoma and blood flow and mass transfer in the large arteries. He has taught biomechanics for over ten years.

Craig A. Simmons is the Canada Research Chair in Mechanobiology and an assistant professor of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering at the University of Toronto, with cross-appointments to the Institute of Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering and the Faculty of Dentistry. His research interests include cell and tissue biomechanics and cell mechanobiology, particularly as it relates to tissue engineering and heart valve disease.

Bibliographic information

• Title: Introductory Biomechanics: From Cells to Organisms; Cambridge Texts in Biomedical Engineering
• Authors: C. Ross Ethier, Craig A. Simmons
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press, 2007
• ISBN: 1139461826, 9781139461825
• Length: 511 pages
• Subjects: Medical / Physiology; Science / Life Sciences / Molecular Biology; Technology & Engineering / Biomedical; Technology & Engineering / Engineering (General)