The Summer School will present a state-of-the-art overview of biomechanical and mechanobiological modeling and simulation of biological tissue from the structural to the macroscopic level. The lecturers will discuss biomolecules, networks and cells as well as growth models appropriate for computational analysis. Applications include arteries, muscles, the heart, plants, neurons and tumours.
Cell migration, the mechanics of the whole cell and sub-cellular components will be discussed including smooth muscle cells and cardiac myocytes. This links with the discussion of growth, which builds on the constituents of soft tissue. Growth modeling includes applications to plants, bones, soft tissue, cancer and other human diseases.
Continuum mechanics underpins much of the modeling required in the biomechanics and mechanobiology of tissues. A summary of the key ingredients of continuum mechanics is therefore provided with particular emphasis on the nonlinear theory of elasticity, as a starting point for characterizing material properties. Models of the mechanical and other properties of individual biomolecules, networks of biomolecules and living cells will be examined. Also experimental techniques for determining the mechanical properties of biomolecules and cells will be presented. Modeling the interaction between growth, remodeling and the mechanics of biomolecules, cells and tissues will be discussed. Particular attention will be focused on modeling, finite element implementation and simulation of the mechanics, electromechanics, chemomechanics and electrophysiology of cells, artery walls, the heart and the cardiac cycle. This will include discussions of abdominal aortic aneurysms and heart valves. Adipose and epidermal tissues will also be discussed from both modeling and experimental perspectives.
Throughout the course the lecturers will point to future directions for research in the different areas of biomechanics and mechanobiology as well as coupled phenomena.
Audience
The Summer School is addressed to PhD students and postdoctoral researchers in biomedical engineering, (bio)physics, mechanical and civil engineering, applied mathematics, physiology and materials science and more senior scientists and engineers (including some from relevant industries) whose interests are in the area of biomechanics and mechanobiology.
Preliminary Suggested Readings
F Baaijens, C Bouten, N Driessen: Modeling collagen remodeling. J Biomech, 2010;43:166-75. [pdf]
KR Chien, IJ Domain, KK Parker: Cardiogenesis and the complex biology of regenerative cardiovascular medicine. Science, 2008;322:1494-7. Review. [pdf]
NJ Driessen, MA Cox, CV Bouten, FP Baaijens: Remodelling of the angular collagen fiber distribution in cardiovascular tissues. Biomech Model Mechanobiol. 2008;7:93-103. [pdf]
A Goriely, DE Moulton: Morphoelasticity – a theory of elastic growth; in M. Ben Amar, A. Goriely, M. Mueller (eds.): New Trends in the Mechanics of Biological Systems, Oxford University Press, 2011. [pdf]
A Goriely, M Robertson-Tessi, M Tabor, R Vandiver: Elastic growth models; in RP Mondaini, PM Pardalos, (eds.): Mathematical Modelling of Biosystems, Applied Optimization Series, Vol. 102, Springer-Verlag, 2008. [pdf]
S Göktepe, OJ Abilez, E Kuhl: A generic approach towards finite growth with examples of athlete's heart, cardiac dilation, and cardiac wall thickening. J Mech Phys Solids, 2010;58:1661-80. [pdf]
S Göktepe, E Kuhl: Electromechanics of the heart: a unified approach to the strongly coupled excitation-contraction problem. Comput Mech, 2010;45:227-43. [pdf]
GA Holzapfel, RW Ogden: On the bending and stretching elasticity of biopolymer filaments, Journal of Elasticity, 2011;104:319-42. [pdf]
GA Holzapfel, RW Ogden: Constitutive modelling of arteries. Proceedings of the Royal Society A, 2010;466:1551-97. [pdf]
GA Holzapfel, RW Ogden (eds.): Biomechanical Modeling at the Molecular, Cellular and Tissue Levels, CISM Courses and Lectures No. 508. Springer: Wien, New York, 2009.
GYY Lee, CT Lim: Biomechanics approaches to studying human disease, Trends in Biotechnology, 2007;25:111-8. [pdf]
CT Lim, EH Zhou, ST Quek: Mechanical models for living cells - a review, Journal of Biomechanics, 2006;39:195-216. [pdf]
ML McCain, KK Parker: Mechanotransduction: the role of mechanical stress, myocyte shape, and cytoskeletal architecture on cardiac function. Pflugers Arch. 2011 Jul;462(1):89-104. [pdf]
S Murtada, M Kroon, GA Holzapfel: A calcium-driven mechanochemical model for prediction of force generation in smooth muscle. Biomechanics and Modeling in Mechanobiology, 2010;9:749-62. [pdf]
KK Parker, DE Ingber: Extracellular matrix, mechanotransduction and structural hierarchies in heart tissue engineering. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci. 2007 Aug 29;362(1484):1267-79. Review. [pdf]
KK Parker, J Tan, CS Chen, L Tung: Myofibrillar architecture in engineered cardiac myocytes. Circ Res, 2008;103:340-2. [pdf]