Biomechanical engineering

Main articles: Bioengineering, Biomedical engineering, and Biomechanics

Biomechanical engineering, also considered a subfield of mechanical engineering and biomedical engineering, combines principles of physics (with a focus on mechanics), biology, and engineering. Topics of interest in this field include (experimental and theoretical) biomechanics, computational mechanics, continuum mechanics, bioinstrumentation, design of implants and prostheses, etc. ^{[1] [2]} This is a highly multidisciplinary field, and engineers with such a background may enter related niche careers, e.g., as an ergonomics consultant, rehabilitation engineer, biomechanics researcher, and biomedical device engineer. ^[3]

Biomechanical engineers can be seen as mechanical engineers that work in a biomedical context. This is not only due to occasionally mechanical nature of medical devices, but also mechanical engineering tools (such as numerical software packages) are commonly used in analysis of biological materials and biomaterials due to the high importance of their mechanical properties. ^[2] Some research examples are computer simulation of the osteoarthritis, ^[4] patient-specific evaluation of cranial implants for virtual surgical planning, ^[5] computed tomography analysis for clinical assessment of osteoporosis, ^[6] to name a few.

Application domains and related areas

Core applications:

• Design, manufacturing, and maintenance of biomechanical devices (e.g., implants)
• Occupational biomechanics
• Orthopedic biomechanics
• Cardiovascular biomechanics
• Dental biomechanics
• Plant biomechanics
• Tissue mechanics
• Mechanobiology
• Forensic biomechanics

Also, contributing extensively to:

• Biomaterials and tissue engineering
• Biomechatronics and biorobotics
• In silico medicine
• Sports engineering
• Digital twin
• Bionics

Research Groups

Some examples of the research groups and departments:

• Delft University of Technology
• Georgia Institute of Technology
• Iran University of Science and Technology
• University of Twente
• Stanford University

References

1. "7.2.1 Biomechanical Engineering". UC Berkeley Mechanical Engineering. 2019-01-30. Retrieved 2023-06-17.
2. "Biomechanical Engineering Courses | Mechanical Engineering". me.stanford.edu. Retrieved 2023-06-17.
3. "What Does a Biomechanical Engineer Do? (Job Titles Included)" . Retrieved 2022-11-14.
4. Sajjadinia, Seyed Shayan; Haghpanahi, Mohammad; Razi, Mohammad (September 2019). "Computational simulation of the multiphasic degeneration of the bone-cartilage unit during osteoarthritis via indentation and unconfined compression tests" . Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part H: Journal of Engineering in Medicine. 233 (9): 871–882. doi:10.1177/0954411919854011. ISSN   0954-4119. PMID   31232647. S2CID   195328808.
5. Msallem, Bilal; Maintz, Michaela; Halbeisen, Florian S.; Meyer, Simon; Sigron, Guido R.; Sharma, Neha; Cao, Shuaishuai; Thieringer, Florian M. (January 2022). "Biomechanical Evaluation of Patient-Specific Polymethylmethacrylate Cranial Implants for Virtual Surgical Planning: An In-Vitro Study". Materials. 15 (5): 1970. Bibcode:2022Mate...15.1970M. doi: 10.3390/ma15051970 . ISSN   1996-1944. PMC   8911603 . PMID   35269201.
6. Keaveny, T.M.; Clarke, B.L.; Cosman, F.; Orwoll, E.S.; Siris, E.S.; Khosla, S.; Bouxsein, M.L. (2020-06-01). "Biomechanical Computed Tomography analysis (BCT) for clinical assessment of osteoporosis". Osteoporosis International. 31 (6): 1025–1048. doi:10.1007/s00198-020-05384-2. ISSN   1433-2965. PMC   7237403 . PMID   32335687.