Article
Engineering, Biomedical
Nadja Blomeyer, Saurabh Balkrishna Tandale, Luis Fernando Nicolini, Philipp Kobbe, Thomas Pufe, Bernd Markert, Marcus Stoffel
Summary: Through experiments on the human spine, it is found that the structural behavior of the spine is affected under extended-duration cyclic loading, including the viscoelastic effects. A predictive model using cyclic loading is successfully used to predict the changes in the moment-range of motion curves.
ANNALS OF BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING
(2023)
Article
Engineering, Multidisciplinary
Will Zhang, Javiera Jilberto, Gerhard Sommer, Michael S. Sacks, Gerhard A. Holzapfel, David A. Nordsletten
Summary: Biomechanics is important in diagnosing and treating heart conditions. Computational models can provide personalized treatment options but require accurate constitutive equations for biomechanical behavior prediction. A fractional viscoelastic modeling approach that accurately captures the viscoelastic response of the human myocardium was previously developed. This approach has comparable computational costs and only requires two additional material parameters. In this study, the implementation of this approach in Finite Element Analysis was presented, numerical properties were examined, and the physiological implications were explored.
COMPUTER METHODS IN APPLIED MECHANICS AND ENGINEERING
(2023)
Article
Biology
William R. Reed, Carla R. Lima, Michael A. K. Liebschner, Christopher P. Hurt, Peng Li, Maruti R. Gudavalli
Summary: This study examined the effects of spinal manipulation on muscle pressure and applied forces in a animal model. The findings indicate that the viscoelastic properties of muscle and other soft tissues greatly diminish the forces and pressures applied during spinal manipulation, which could have clinical implications for the treatment of low back pain.
Article
Biology
Xiyang Sun, Yingtao Liu, Chang Liu, Koichi Mayumi, Kohzo Ito, Akinao Nose, Hiroshi Kohsaka
Summary: This study proposes a neurochemical model based on physical measurements to study locomotion in soft-bodied animals and soft robot engineering. The study characterizes the kinematics and biomechanical properties of Drosophila larvae and develops a mathematical model that accurately reproduces experimental observations.
Article
Biotechnology & Applied Microbiology
Christos Tsagkaris, Anna-Katharina Calek, Marie-Rosa Fasser, Jose Miguel Spirig, Sebastiano Caprara, Mazda Farshad, Jonas Widmer
Summary: The aim of this study was to verify the optimization algorithm for pedicle screw placement in a cadaveric study and to quantify the effect of optimization. Results showed that optimization of the pedicle screw trajectory improved the pull-out strength and pull-out strain energy only for vertebrae with high elastic modulus values.
FRONTIERS IN BIOENGINEERING AND BIOTECHNOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Engineering, Biomedical
Won Man Park, Guoan Li, Thomas Cha
Summary: This study developed a novel lumbar finite element model to investigate the interactions between different motion segments and the effects of different ligaments on spine biomechanics. The results showed that multi-motion segment spanning ligaments synergistically functioned with single-motion segment elements in spine biomechanics.
MEDICAL ENGINEERING & PHYSICS
(2023)
Article
Biology
Athanasios Triantafyllou, Georgios Papagiannis, Sophia Stasi, Daphne Bakalidou, Maria Kyriakidou, George Papathanasiou, Elias C. Papadopoulos, Panayiotis J. Papagelopoulos, Panayiotis Koulouvaris
Summary: The recurrence rate after lumbar spine disc surgeries is estimated to be 5-15%. Lumbar spine flexion of more than 10 degrees is mentioned as the most harmful load to the operated disc level that could lead to recurrence during the first six postoperative weeks. This study used wearable sensors technology to quantify flexions during daily living following such surgeries for six weeks postoperatively. The results showed that patients had a 30% normal lumbar motion after the first postoperative week, which increased to almost 75% at the end of the sixth week.
Article
Clinical Neurology
Ana I. Lorente, Cesar Hidalgo-Garcia, Jacobo Rodriguez-Sanz, Mario Maza-Frechin, Carlos Lopez-de-Celis, Albert Perez-Bellmunt
Summary: The study evaluated joint mobility and stiffness at the craniovertebral junction using cadaveric cervical spines and found that unilateral alar ligament transection increased the range of motion of C0-C2 in the three planes of movement. However, intersegmental motion alterations were not always observed.
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Zhuo Chang, Jing Zhang, Yilun Liu, Huajian Gao, Guang-Kui Xu
Summary: In this study, the rheological responses of cardiac tissues at different stages of myocardial infarction (MI) were investigated using atomic force microscopy-based microrheology. It was found that all cardiac tissues exhibited a universal two-stage power-law rheological behavior at different time scales. The power-law exponents discovered in the experiment can capture an inconspicuous initial rheological change, making them suitable as markers for early-stage MI diagnosis.
Article
Engineering, Biomedical
Ifeanyi Uchegbulam, Simon G. Danby, Roger Lewis, Matt J. Carre, Raman Maiti
Summary: This study investigates the impact of seasonal transition from winter to summer on the mechanical and physical properties of the skin. The findings show changes in parameters such as trans epidermal water loss, epidermal roughness, hydration, skin thickness, melanin, redness, firmness, and elasticity. There are correlations observed between these parameters, with some relationships being stronger in summer than in winter. The study also highlights differences in skin properties between anatomical locations, with the upper arm displaying more consistent results than the lower arm.
JOURNAL OF THE MECHANICAL BEHAVIOR OF BIOMEDICAL MATERIALS
(2022)
Article
Agricultural Engineering
Ziqing Wei, Dong Li, Shuai Li, Tongyao Hao, Huiping Zeng, Jie Zhang
Summary: Under organic stress, increasing filamentous bacteria can improve anammox capability by preventing granule disintegration and washout. The accumulation of internal stress plays a more important role in limiting granular strength than the adverse physicochemical properties of granules. Unlike floc-forming heterotrophic bacteria, filamentous bacteria grow into a uniform network structure within granules, providing a low-stress skeleton for the granules and enhancing their strength.
BIORESOURCE TECHNOLOGY
(2023)
Article
Engineering, Biomedical
Chen Jin, Rui Zhu, Zhan-wei Wang, Yi Li, Hao-fei Ni, Meng-lei Xu, Liang-dong Zheng, Yu-ting Cao, Yi-ting Yang, Wei Xu, Jian-jie Wang, Ning Xie, Li-ming Cheng
Summary: Spinal cord injury (SCI) is a debilitating condition with no cure, but regenerative medicine holds promise. This study characterized the mechanical properties of injured rat spinal cord tissue at different time points after crush injury. The results showed that the injured tissues had lower stiffness and higher viscosity immediately after injury, but gradually returned to baseline values and eventually displayed increased viscoelastic properties. These findings have important implications for the development of biomaterials for SCI repair.
ACTA BIOMATERIALIA
(2023)
Article
Engineering, Biomedical
Mark van de Ruit, Levinia L. van der Velden, Bram Onneweer, Joyce L. Benner, Claudia J. W. Haarman, Gerard M. Ribbers, Ruud W. Selles
Summary: This study demonstrates the feasibility and reliability of using system identification to quantify upper limb motor impairments. Validity was confirmed by differences between patients and controls and correlations with other measurements.
JOURNAL OF NEUROENGINEERING AND REHABILITATION
(2023)
Article
Orthopedics
Luiz Felipe Ambra, Carlos Eduardo Franciozi, Amy Phan, Flavio Faloppa, Andreas H. Gomoll
Summary: In evaluating the impact of patellar ligament reconstruction on patellar stability, MPTL-R failed to effectively prevent lateral displacement of the patella and is not recommended as a standalone surgery for the treatment of patellar instability.
KNEE SURGERY SPORTS TRAUMATOLOGY ARTHROSCOPY
(2021)
Article
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology
Anton Murashko, Anastasia A. Frolova, Anastasiya A. Akovantseva, Svetlana L. Kotova, Peter S. Timashev, Yuri M. Efremov
Summary: Cytotoxicity assays are important tests for studying the safety and biocompatibility of substances and the effectiveness of anticancer drugs. Recent studies have shown that the internal biophysical parameters of cells can be linked to cellular damage. By using atomic force microscopy, researchers assessed the changes in the viscoelastic parameters of cells treated with different cytotoxic agents, revealing that cell softening is a common response to treatment. The mechanical parameters were found to be more sensitive than morphological parameters in detecting cell damage. These findings support the concept of cell mechanics-based cytotoxicity tests.
BIOCHIMICA ET BIOPHYSICA ACTA-GENERAL SUBJECTS
(2023)