Main description:

The idea of preparing this volume originated from the ever increasing importance of computational modelling of complex problems in medicine. Considerable advances have been made in this area as demonstrated by the continued success of the International Conference on Modelling in Medicine and Biology organised by the Wessex Institute of Technology. The work reported at those meetings and the research carried out at the Wessex Institute of Technology indicated the increasing interaction and collaboration between medical and engineering scientists. Advances presented at these conferences are now being used in practice for a wide range of medical and surgical applications. The considerable improvements and evolution of the field has led to some of the best scientists, who have participated in our conferences, to write an article on their most recent research. This has led to thirteen outstanding articles published in this volume which encompass important areas of biomedical modelling.

Contents:

Contents Stress-strain distribution in the human stomach; A computer-assisted internal examination training system using both anatomical and virtual models; A numerical study of blood flow patterns in cerebral aneurysms and the causal relationship with platelet aggregation; Effects of different types of input waveforms in patient-specific right coronary atherosclerosis hemodynamics analysis; The influence of heart stress on the brain: a preliminary study; Mathematical aspects of the mechanics of left ventricular contraction; Universal features in the laws of growth; Modeling stent expansion dynamics and blood flow patterns in a stenotic artery; Blood flow under external strains: phenomenological approach, theoretical developments and numerical analysis; Investigation of pulsatile flow in the upper human airways; An innovative brace with pneumatic thrusts for scoliosis treatment; The human lumbar vertebral body as an intrinsic, functionally optimal structure; The optimal structural design of the human spinal intervertebral disk