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Biological Soft Tissues

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Book cover Springer Handbook of Experimental Solid Mechanics

Part of the book series: Springer Handbooks ((SHB))

Abstract

A better understanding of many issues of human health, disease, injury, and the treatment thereof necessitates a detailed quantification of how biological cells, tissues, and organs respond to applied loads. Thus, experimental mechanics can, and must, play a fundamental role in cell biology, physiology, pathophysiology, and clinical intervention. The goal of this chapter is to discuss some of the foundations of experimental biomechanics, with particular attention to quantifying the finite-strain behavior of biological soft tissues in terms of nonlinear constitutive relations. Towards this end, we review illustrative elastic, viscoelastic, and poroelastic descriptors of soft-tissue behavior and the experiments on which they are based. In addition, we review a new class of much needed constitutive relations that will help quantify the growth and remodeling processes within tissues that are fundamental to long-term adaptations and responses to disease, injury, and clinical intervention. We will see that much has been learned, yet much remains to be discovered about the wonderfully complex biomechanical behavior of soft tissues.

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Abbreviations

CSK:

cytoskeleton

ECM:

extracellular matrix

FAC:

focal adhesion complex

GF:

growth factor

LASIK:

laser-based corneal reshaping

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biomedical Engineering, Texas A& M University, 335L Zachry Engineering Center, 3120 TAMU, 77843-3120, College Station, TX, USA

    Jay D. Humphrey Prof.

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  1. Jay D. Humphrey Prof.
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Correspondence to Jay D. Humphrey Prof. .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Room 126, Latrobe Hall, The Johns Hopkins University, 21218-2681, Baltimore, MD, USA, 3400 North Charles Street

    William N. Sharpe Jr. Prof.

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Humphrey, J.D. (2008). Biological Soft Tissues. In: Sharpe, W. (eds) Springer Handbook of Experimental Solid Mechanics. Springer Handbooks. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-30877-7_7

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