Graduate Courses
Admissions | Courses | Faculty | Funding | Fellowships
 

BME 595C Skeletal Biomechanics

Course Description:
The majority of the discussion will be directed toward the mechanical properties of skeletal tissues and mechanics of bones and joints. Selected topics in prosthesis design and biomaterials will be interjected to emphasize the unique biological criteria, which must be considered in biomechanical engineering design.

Objective:
To provide students with an understanding of how skeletal tissues are constructed and how orthopedic prostheses are designed to replace non-functioning bones and joints.

Level:
This course is designed for advance undergraduate and master's level students. Graduate students will be expected to write a term paper.

Prerequisite: 272 - Mechanics of Materials

Course Instructor: Charles H. Turner, Ph.D.

Required Text: Skeletal Tissue Mechanics by R. B. Martin, D. B. Burr and N. A. Sharkey, Springer, 1998.

Course Outline:
1) Calculation of forces in joints
2) Skeletal biology
3) Analysis of bone remodeling
4) Mechanical properties of bones
5) Fatigue and fracture resistance of bone
6) Mechanical adaptability of the skeleton and structural optimization in organisms
7) Synovial joint mechanics and joint prostheses
8) Mechanical properties of ligament and tendon

Reference Texts:
Mechanical Design in Organisms by S. A. Wainwright, W. D. Biggs, J. D. Currey, and J. M. Gosline, Princeton University Press, 1982.

The Mechanical Adaptations of Bones by J. D. Currey, Princeton University Press, 1984.

Design in Nature. Learning from Trees by C. Mattheck, Springer, 1998

Invention and Evolution: Design in nature and engineering by M. J. French, Cambridge University Press, 1988.

On Growth and Form by D'Arcy Thompson, Cambridge University Press, 1961 (abridged edition, original publication 1917)

Outcomes:

1. Construct free body diagrams and calculate forces on human joints [e]

2. Explain the role of remodeling in repair and replacement of bone [a4]

3. Apply failure criteria to determine when a solid material or bone will fail [a4]

4. Be able to calculate stress and strain from elasticity equations for orthotropic or transversely isotropic materials [a4,e]

5. Be able to calculate principal stresses and strains for anisotropic materials [a4,e]

6. Explain the concept of mechanical adaptation of biological tissues [j,k3]

7. Apply biological adaptation strategies to engineering applications [c1]

8. Apply viscoelasticity models to explain mechanical properties of ligament and tendon [a4]

9. Explain the compressive mechanics of cartilage based upon biochemical composition [j]

10. Explain tissue engineering in terms of cellular biomechanics and biology [j]

11. Apply the basic mechanics of muscles to explain muscle function [g,j]

12. Apply mechanics of materials to derive criteria for orthopaedic implant design [a4,h]