94 Computational Modelling of Biomechanics and Biotribology
cancer (Paszek et al ., 2005), osteoarthritis (Judex et al ., 1997), glaucoma
(Tan et al ., 2006), and muscular dystrophy (Heydemann and McNally,
2007) can be directly caused or catalyzed by irregular cellular or tissue
mechanics (Ingber, 2003). However, the speci c mechanisms by which
mechanical irregularities lead to disease states, as well as how or if they
can be remedied, are still unclear.
While these diseases grow to impair the function of tissues in an organism,
their initiation and development starts within individual cells. Therefore,
it is important to decouple the role of mechanics at the single cell level
from the role at the tissue level in order to better understand ...