This course will provide students with the knowledge and skills to undertake biomechanical analysis from the cellular to the whole body level. The students will be able to analyse the biomechanics of hard and soft tissues, the biomechanics of cells, and the forces generated within natural tissues.

Two lectures per week

None

None

Written Exam 100%

The aims of the course are to:

■ provide students with the knowledge and skills to undertake biomechanical analysis from the cellular to the whole body level;

■ provide students with the skills to analyse the biomechanics of hard and soft tissue;

■ provide students with the skills to analyse the forces generated in natural tissue;

■ provide students with the skills to analyse the biomechanics of cells;

■ provide students with the knowledge to consider the stresses within cells and their biological effects.

By the end of this course students will be able to:

■ apply the principles of mechanics to a broad range of physiological situations;

■ describe the effect of force on proteins, cells, tissues and organs;

■ evaluate the forces produced by individual cells of various types;

■ evaluate the forces generated within individual organs whether generated externally to the body or internally;

■ apply analysis techniques such as viscoelastic models to biomechanical situations including the analysis of the mechanical behaviour of cells.

Students must attend the degree examination and submit at least 75% by weight of the other components of the course's summative assessment.

Students must attend the timetabled laboratory classes.

Students should attend at least 75% of the timetabled classes of the course.

Note that these are minimum requirements: good students will achieve far higher participation/submission rates.  Any student who misses an assessment or a significant number of classes because of illness or other good cause should report this by completing a MyCampus absence report.