Study-Unit Description

Study-Unit Description


CODE MEC4001

 
TITLE Biomechanics

 
UM LEVEL 04 - Years 4, 5 in Modular UG or PG Cert Course

 
ECTS CREDITS 5

 
DEPARTMENT Mechanical Engineering

 
DESCRIPTION This study-unit provides an insight into the following topics:
- overview of different types of tissue, their mechanical behaviour, and introduction to linear continuum theory, poroelasticity, and modelling of the tissue;
- overview of vital human functions and systems, and identification of organs contributing to the specific function;
- overview of musculoskeletal anatomy and biomechanics of the spine, limbs, torso, and some joints such as hip, knee etc.;
- motion analysis - measurement and simulation;
- the principle of reverse engineering in biomechanics for design of prosthetic devices.

Study-unit Aims:

Biomechanics introduces the synergy of all basic mechanical theories applied to biological systems. It familiarizes students with basic human systems, organs, and their mechanical property that has direct influence on the biomechanical feedback. The study-unit provides an insight to the methods and strategies used to analyze complex biological systems, apply computational methods to solve mathematical models of the complex system and verify the numerical results.

Learning Outcomes:

1. Knowledge & Understanding:

By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to:
- identify basic functions and organs of a human body;
- identify the tissue properties and their behaviour;
- apply basic principles of mechanics to describe the behaviour of a simple musculoskeletal system; and
- create mathematical model of the simple biological system to quantify the stress, strain developed;
- evaluate the magnitude of the force produced by muscle.

2. Skills:

By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to:
- provide simple evaluation of a human motion; and
- identify and collect data needed for computational modelling of a simple system;
- simulate the response of basic functional system by applying the principle of reverse engineering;
- appreciate the complexity of human systems; and
- get inspired by the nature and learn from the nature.

Main Text/s and any supplementary readings:
[Books marked with (a) are available in the library]

- Musculoskeletal biomechanics - P. Brinckmann, W. Frobin, G. Leivseth, ISBN-3-13-130051-5, Thieme, 2002. (a)
- Kinesiology: the mechanics & pathomechanics of human movement - C. A. Oatis, ISBN 0-7817-5513-1, Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, 2004. (a)
- Gait analysis: an introduction - Michael W. Whittle, ISBN 0-7506-5262-4, Butterworth-Heinemann, 2002. (a)
- Introductory Biomechanics: From Cells to Organisms (Cambridge Texts in Biomedical Engineering) - C. Ross Ethier, ISBN- 978-0521841122, Cambridge University Press, 12 Mar 2007.

 
ADDITIONAL NOTES Pre-requisite Study-units: MEC2201, MEC3108, MEC3203

Co-requisite Study-units: MEC1101, MEC1401, MEC2102, MEC2308, MEC3103

 
STUDY-UNIT TYPE Lecture, Tutorial, Practical & Independent Study

 
METHOD OF ASSESSMENT
Assessment Component/s Assessment Due Sept. Asst Session Weighting
Presentation SEM1 No 20%
Assignment SEM1 Yes 80%

 
LECTURER/S

 

 
The University makes every effort to ensure that the published Courses Plans, Programmes of Study and Study-Unit information are complete and up-to-date at the time of publication. The University reserves the right to make changes in case errors are detected after publication.
The availability of optional units may be subject to timetabling constraints.
Units not attracting a sufficient number of registrations may be withdrawn without notice.
It should be noted that all the information in the description above applies to study-units available during the academic year 2023/4. It may be subject to change in subsequent years.

https://www.um.edu.mt/course/studyunit