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Biomedical Engineering and Bioengineering Commons

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Theses/Dissertations

Virginia Commonwealth University

Biomechanics and Biotransport

Biomechanics

Publication Year

Articles 1 - 4 of 4

Full-Text Articles in Biomedical Engineering and Bioengineering

Effect Of Viscoelasticity On Cellular Morphology And Activity, Thomas J. Petet Jr Jan 2022

Effect Of Viscoelasticity On Cellular Morphology And Activity, Thomas J. Petet Jr

Theses and Dissertations

It has been well established that there is a link between substrate stiffness and cellular activities such as proliferation, migration, and differentiation. Less characterized is the link between the time-dependent viscosity of a substrate with those cellular activities. To explore this, PDMS substrates were created with predictably tunable stiffness and viscosity parameters. A simulated model was also developed in parallel to explore the potential effects of viscosity in a computationally predictive way. It was found that the inclusion of viscosity caused a major paradigm shift to a non-zero substrate equilibrium that was sensitive to increases in the substrate stiffness. Finally, …


The Effects Of Fatigue On Lower Extremity Kinetics And Kinematics In Subjects With Known Ankle Instability, Lindsay E. Clayton Jan 2015

The Effects Of Fatigue On Lower Extremity Kinetics And Kinematics In Subjects With Known Ankle Instability, Lindsay E. Clayton

Theses and Dissertations

The goal of this study was to evaluate biomechanical differences between healthy subjects and those with ankle instability during the gradual onset of lower extremity fatigue from a landing activity. An understanding of these differences is needed in order to prevent future injury to or further debilitation in individuals with ankle instability. A functional fatiguing activity was designed to focus fatigue on the quadriceps muscles, as those are the muscles most frequently fatigued during sport. Measures were taken throughout the progression of fatigue with a force plate and a motion tracking system and included vertical ground reaction force and lower …


Analysis And Modeling Of The Roles Of Actin-Myosin Interactions In Bladder Smooth Muscle Biomechanics, Seyed Omid Komariza Jan 2014

Analysis And Modeling Of The Roles Of Actin-Myosin Interactions In Bladder Smooth Muscle Biomechanics, Seyed Omid Komariza

Theses and Dissertations

Muscle mechanical behavior potentially plays an important role in some of the most common bladder disorders. These include overactive bladder, which can involve involuntary contractions during bladder filling, and impaired contractility or underactive bladder, which may involve weak or incomplete contractions during voiding. Actin-myosin cross-bridges in detrusor smooth muscle (DSM) are responsible for contracting and emptying the bladder. The total tension produced by muscle is the sum of its preload and active tensions. Studies suggest that actin-myosin cross-links are involved in adjustable preload stiffness (APS), which is characterized by a preload tension curve that can be shifted along the length …


Design And Validation Of A Computational Model For Study Of Scapholunate Joint Kinematics, Edward J. Tremols Jan 2014

Design And Validation Of A Computational Model For Study Of Scapholunate Joint Kinematics, Edward J. Tremols

Theses and Dissertations

As computational power has increased, computational modeling has become a very promising tool to model the biomechanics of complex joint systems. Musculoskeletal computational models have become more complex when compared to original iterations which utilized a number of simplifications. This thesis utilized a three-dimensional computational model of the wrist joint structure to investigate scapholunate kinematics. The model accurately represented the bony anatomy of the wrist and hand and represented soft tissue structures such as ligaments, tendons, and other surrounding tissues. Creation of the model was done using commercially available computer-aided design and medical image processing software, and utilized the rigid …