Continuum biomechanics - pantha psiloni

In contrast to classical engineering materials, living tissues show the fascinating ability to adapt their internal microstructure to a given mechanical environment. Although this functional adaptation of biological tissues has been known for more than a century, it was only within the past two decades that continuum biomechanics has attracted a considerably growing attention. This talk focuses on the historical development of continuum biomechanics and discusses its fundamental differences from classical, traditional continuum mechanics. Computational simulations of functional adaptation, self healing, microstructural alignment and self organization illustrate the potential of modern biomechanical models for growth and remodeling in hard and soft tissues.