Laboratory Modules for Reinforcement of Concepts Taught in Undergraduate Tissue Mechanics Course

Tissue mechanics is one of the key courses of the Biomechanics subtrack of the undergraduate curriculum. The aims of the course include: 1) To understand the concepts of stress, strain, viscoelasticity and how these concepts apply to musculoskeletal tissues. 2) The ability to infer the state of stress and strain at a given point in a biological structure under torsional, axial, bending and other types of loads. 3) To understand the anatomy of musculoskeletal tissues. Accomplishment of these aims requires a holistic understanding of statics, strength of materials and microanatomy of connective tissues. Conveying this wide range of topics in one class is a major challenge and most textbooks on this subject lack depth either in engineering or in physiology. The purpose of this abstract is to describe the benefits of the integration of theory with experimental practice for bridging the difficult topics of statics, strength of materials and tissue anatomy within the framework of undergraduate biomedical engineering curriculum.