Publications related to Biomechanics

Neuromechanical Simulations of Animats with Decentralised Control

The transition from aquatic to terrestrial environments represents a significant event in the history of evolution. For this transition to occur, animals had to adapt their morphology, physiology and locomotory skills to handle the challenges and interacti ...

EPFL2023

Investigating the roles of reflexes and central pattern generators in the control and modulation of human locomotion using a physiologically plausible neuromechanical model

Auke Ijspeert, Andrea Di Russo, Dimitar Yuriev Stanev, Anushree Bapusaheb Sabnis, Stéphane Armand

Objective. Studying the neural components regulating movement in human locomotion is obstructed by the inability to perform invasive experimental recording in the human neural circuits. Neuromechanical simulations can provide insights by modeling the locom ...

Iop Publishing Ltd2023

Compliance-matching vascular grafts with personalization potential

Georgios Rovas

Aortic diseases are characterized by dire prognosis and inadequate diagnosis, owing to their insidious yet lethal nature. Aortopathies, namely aortic aneurysms and dissections, along with certain congenital diseases, might necessitate surgical replacement ...

EPFL2023

Development of a Robotic Microsurgeon for Embryonic Research

Ece Özelçi

Understanding how biological matter takes its shape is instrumental to biology, bioengineering, medicine, and bioinspired engineering. Gaining information on the principles of morphogenesis could enable clinicians to correct developmental abnormalities, ev ...

EPFL2023

Concurrent Evolution of Biomechanical and Physiological Parameters With Running-Induced Acute Fatigue

Kamiar Aminian, Anisoara Ionescu, Salil Apte, Gaëlle Prigent, Vincent Gremeaux

Understanding the influence of running-induced acute fatigue on the homeostasis of the body is essential to mitigate the adverse effects and optimize positive adaptations to training. Fatigue is a multifactorial phenomenon, which influences biomechanical, ...

FRONTIERS MEDIA SA2022

Augmented Cooper test: Biomechanical contributions to endurance performance

Kamiar Aminian, Salil Apte, Vincent Gremeaux, Simone Troxler

Running mechanics are modifiable with training and adopting an economical running technique can improve running economy and hence performance. While field measurement of running economy is cumbersome, running mechanics can be assessed accurately and conven ...

FRONTIERS MEDIA SA2022

Knee adduction moment decomposition: Toward better clinical decision-making

Kamiar Aminian, Xavier Crevoisier, Robin Martin

Knee adduction moment (KAM) is correlated with the progression of medial knee osteoarthritis (OA). Although a generic gait modification can reduce the KAM in some patients, it may have a reverse effect on other patients. We proposed the "decomposed ground ...

FRONTIERS MEDIA SA2022

Biomechanical Measures for Fall Risk Assessment and Fall Detection in People with Transfemoral Amputations for the Next-Generation Prostheses: A Scoping Review

Silvestro Micera

Introduction: Transfemoral amputations are known to compromise balance control capabilities, thus increasing the probability of falling. Current research in robotic prostheses is exploring novel strategies to assess the risk of fall and, if required, enabl ...

LIPPINCOTT WILLIAMS & WILKINS2022

Efficient Meso-Scale Modeling of Alkali-Silica-Reaction Damage in Concrete

Ali Falsafi

The alkali-silica reaction (ASR), also known as concrete cancer, is one of the most prevalent causes of concrete degradation. In this chemical reaction, amorphous silica in the aggregates reacts with alkalis in the pore solution. By absorbing water, hydrop ...

EPFL2022

Investigating Tissue Mechanics in vitro Using Untethered Soft Robotic Microdevices

Mahmut Selman Sakar, Ece Özelçi, Raquel Filipa Penacho Parreira

This paper presents the design, fabrication, and operation of a soft robotic compression device that is remotely powered by laser illumination. We combined the rapid and wireless response of hybrid nanomaterials with state-of-the-art microengineering techn ...

2021

Measuring and modeling the motor system with machine learning

Alexander Mathis, Mackenzie Mathis, Alessandro Marin Vargas

The utility of machine learning in understanding the motor system is promising a revolution in how to collect, measure, and analyze data. The field of movement science already elegantly incorporates theory and engineering principles to guide experimental w ...

2021

Viscoelastic surface electrode arrays to interface with viscoelastic tissues

Stéphanie Lacour, Alix Esther Anne Trouillet, Nicolas Vachicouras, Florian Dylan Fallegger, Christina Myra Tringides

Bioelectronic interfacing with living tissues should match the biomechanical properties of biological materials to reduce damage to the tissues. Here, the authors present a fully viscoelastic microelectrode array composed of an alginate matrix and carbon-b ...

Nature Research2021

Repeated exposure to tripping like perturbations elicits more precise control and lower toe clearance of the swinging foot during steady walking

Silvestro Micera

Controlling minimum toe clearance (MTC) is considered an important factor in preventing tripping. In the current study, we investigated modifications of neuro-muscular control underlying toe clearance during steady locomotion induced by repeated exposure t ...

ELSEVIER2021

Engineered Extracellular Matrices with Integrated Wireless Microactuators to Study Mechanobiology

Mahmut Selman Sakar, Erik Mailand, Nikolaos Bouklas, Fazil Emre Uslu

Mechanobiology explores how forces regulate cell behaviors and what molecular machinery are responsible for the sensing, transduction, and modulation of mechanical cues. To this end, probing of cells cultured on planar substrates has served as a primary ex ...

Wiley2021

Biomechanical Response of the Lower Extremity to Running-Induced Acute Fatigue: A Systematic Review

Kamiar Aminian, Salil Apte, Gaëlle Prigent

Objective: To investigate (i) typical protocols used in research on biomechanical response to running-induced fatigue, (ii) the effect of sport-induced acute fatigue on the biomechanics of running and functional tests, and (iii) the consistency of analyzed ...

2021

Sensory modulation of gait characteristics in human locomotion: A neuromusculoskeletal modeling study

Auke Ijspeert, Andrea Di Russo, Dimitar Yuriev Stanev, Stéphane Armand

The central nervous system of humans and other animals modulates spinal cord activity to achieve several locomotion behaviors. Previous neuromechanical models investigated the modulation of human gait changing selected parameters belonging to CPGs (Central ...

2021

Design and dynamic analysis of soft pneumatic systems for wearable robots

Sagar Dattatray Joshi

There are many challenges in the development of pneumatically powered soft robots due to the non-linearities of the materials used, non-linear pneumatic flow, complex non-standard designs, and high compliance that leads to loading-specific mechanical behav ...

EPFL2021

Self-organized patterning of cell morphology via mechanosensitive feedback

Marko Popovic

Tissue organization is often characterized by specific patterns of cell morphology. How such patterns emerge in developing tissues is a fundamental open question. Here, we investigate the emergence of tissue-scale patterns of cell shape and mechanical tiss ...

2021

Microtensile failure mechanisms in lamellar bone: Influence of fibrillar orientation, specimen size and hydration

Johann Michler, Daniele Casari, Tatiana Kochetkova

A mechanistic understanding of bone fracture is indispensable for developing improved fracture risk assessment in clinics. Since bone is a hierarchically structured material, gaining such knowledge requires analysis at multiple length scales. Here, the ten ...

ELSEVIER SCI LTD2021

From local resynchronization to global pattern recovery in the zebrafish segmentation clock

Andrew Charles Oates

Integrity of rhythmic spatial gene expression patterns in the vertebrate segmentation clock requires local synchronization between neighboring cells by Delta-Notch signaling and its inhibition causes defective segment boundaries. Whether deformation of the ...

2021