Syllabus 2007/2008 FHL110

Syllabus academic year 2007/2008

BIOMECHANICS

FHL110

Higher education credits: 7,5. Grading scale: TH. Level: A (Second level). Language of instruction: The course will be given in English. Optional for: E4mt, F4, F4mt, M4, M4mo, N4, N4nbm, Pi4bm. Course coordinator: Assistant Professor Ingrid Svensson, ingrid.svensson@solid.lth.se, Hållfasthetslära. Recommended prerequisits: Basic courses in mathematics, mechanics and solid mechanics. Assessment: Four written assignments are performed in groups of 2-3 students during the course. The assignments are reported in written reports and written feedback is given from the course coordinator. In the end of the course there is an individual, written, home exam. This exam is marked with the grades failed, 3, 4, 5 and this grade is also the final grade on the course. Procedures for an extra exam when failed, is arranged after contact with the course coordinator. Home page: http://www.solid.lth.se.

Aim
The aim of the course is to widen up the conceptions of mechanics to also include biological tissues.

Knowledge and understanding
For a passing grade the student must

be familiar with the different organ systems of the human body and how they work together
understand how the building stones of the human body ( bone, cartilage, tendons, ligaments and muscles) can be described in mechanical terms
understand how systems of joints, e.g. the hip and the knee, works in mechanical sense
understand how flows in the human body, e.g. blood and air, can be described in sense of fluid mechanics
be able to describe the prerequisites prosthesis and implants must fulfill in order to work mechanically in the human body

Skills and abilities
For a passing grade the student must

be able to formulate and solve problems in biomechanics, both in statics and dynamics
be able to make use of techniques in optimisation to solve a problem in biomechanics
be able to interpret the results of numerical solutions of adaptive elasticity

Judgement and approach
For a passing grade the student must

be able to estimate properties in strength of materials such as safety factor and mechanical lifetime of biological tissues
be able to interpret and discuss information from literature in medicine

Contents
The human body is built up by different elements such as bone, articular cartilage, ligaments, tendons, muscles, blood and body fluids. These elements are described and modelled in the context described in earlier courses in mechanics and solid mechanics. Concepts like constitutive equations and evolution laws are applied to biological material e.g. bone, where effects from mechanical loading on the inner structure are modelled. The architecture of the skeleton and the apparatus of locomotion are described as a mechanical system where the bones are coupled together in joints and the activity in the muscles control the movements.

Literature
V.H. Frankel and M.Nordin, Basic Biomechanics of the Skeletal System, 1980, chap. 1-5 and 10.
S.A. Berger, W. Goldsmith and E.R, Lewis, Introduction to Bioengineering, 1996, chap. 2-3, 8-10.
Y.C. Fung, Biomechanics, Mechanical Properties of Living Tissues, 1993, capt. 2 and 12.