A selection of biomechanical research problems : from modeling to experimentation

The research undertakings within this manuscript illustrate the importance of biomechanics in today’s science. Without doubt, biomechanics can be utilized to obtain a better understanding of many unsolved mysteries involved in the field of medicine. Moreover, biomechanics can be used to develop better prosthetic or surgical devices as well. Chapter 2 represents a medical problem, which has not been solved for more than a century. With the use of fundamental principles of biomechanics, a better insight of this problem and its possible causes were obtained. Chapter 3 investigates the mechanical interaction between the human teeth and some processed food products during mastication, which is a routine but crucial daily activity of a human being. Chapter 4 looks at a problem within the field of surgery. In this chapter the stability and reliability of two different suturing techniques are explored. Chapters 5 and 6 represent new patent designs as a result of the investigations made in Chapter 4. Chapter 7 studies the impact and load transfer patterns during the collision between a child’s head and the ground. All of the above mentioned chapters show the significance of biomechanics in solving a range of different medical problems that involve physical and or mechanical characters.NAMechanical EngineeringDoctoralUniversity of New Mexico. Dept. of Mechanical EngineeringKhraishi, TariqKhraishi, TariqShen, Yu-LinBaack, BretHarrison, Thoma