Biomechanics and Mechanobiology

Course guarantor:

Lukáš Horný

Lecturer:

Matej Daniel, Lukáš Horný, Jakub Kronek, Tomáš Suchý

Tutor:

Matej Daniel, Lukáš Horný, Jakub Kronek, Tomáš Suchý

Synopsis:

The course „Biomechanics and Mechanobiology“ introduces students to biomechanics as the study of movement in living matter at all scales of the human body (from molecules through tissues and organs to the movement of the body itself) and expands the concept of biomechanics to include explanations of processes that maintain physiological homeostasis, such as remodeling and adaptation. Attention is also given to the causes and mechanical contexts of the onset and progression of diseases and their implications for biomechanics, particularly of the musculoskeletal and cardiovascular systems.

Requirements:

Students must attend 80% of the class sessions and prepare a presentation, which we will discuss during the exam. Students will choose their own presentation topic from a list that will be posted in the second half of the course.

Syllabus of lectures:

1. Biomechanics: motion at all scales

2. Biomechanics of cell

3. Tissues

4. Muscle contraction and its mathematical description

5. Load carrying tissues

6. Continuum mechanics (strain and stress)

7. Constitutive description of tissues

8. Adaptation and remodeling

9. Bone as an example

10. Biomechanics of the circulatory system

11. Mechanobiology of the blood vessels

12. Inflammation

13. Pathobiomechanics of the circulation

Syllabus of tutorials:

Study Objective:

The aim of the course Biomechanics and Mechanobiology is to provide an understanding of the relationship between the mechanical properties of human tissues, processes within organ systems, the causes of certain diseases, and their mechanical consequences (body movement and muscle contraction, blood flow, the development of atherosclerosis and the onset of hypertension, inflammation, and cell movement).

Study materials:

Taber LA (2020) Continuum Modeling in Mechanobiology. Springer Cham.

Pivonka P (2018) Multiscale Mechanobiology of Bone Remodeling and Adaptation. Springer Cham.

Note:

Time-table for winter semester 2025/2026:

	06:00–08:0008:00–10:0010:00–12:0012:00–14:0014:00–16:0016:00–18:0018:00–20:0020:00–22:0022:00–24:00
Mon
Tue
Wed
Thu	roomT4:A2-259 Horný L. Daniel M. 08:00–09:45 (lecture parallel1) Dejvice roomT4:A2-259 Horný L. Daniel M. 09:45–10:30 (lecture parallel1 parallel nr.101) Dejvice
Fri

Time-table for summer semester 2025/2026:

Time-table is not available yet

The course is a part of the following study plans: