Applications in Orthopaedics

This chapter summarizes the application of biomechanics in orthopedics. An overview is provided of the applications of biomechanics to basic science. This includes understanding how the musculoskeletal system works and moves; measuring indicators of movement that can describe the state of health/disease of a subject; building models of the entire musculoskeletal system (or of a portion of it) to describe, interpret and predict its function under different conditions; measuring the mechanical and structural properties of organs of our musculoskeletal system alone, and in presence of an orthopedic device. Descriptions of the tools that can be used in vitro and in silico to measure/predict the most relevant mechanical quantities (forces, moments, strain, displacement, strength, mode of failure) in bony structures are provided. In the last part, the most applicative role of biomechanics is described: design and validation of orthopedic devices is an extremely relevant issue (both to manufacturers, practitioners and patients), which involves a great deal of biomechanical experiments and simulations.