Nano-biomechanics

The field of macroscopic biomechanics has been established as a discipline within bioengineering [14] but its extension to nanoscience and nanotechnology is relatively recent. Since the means of biological information and motion transfer at the molecular level is basically mechanical, the extension of biomechanics to nano-biomechanics is a reasonable development both from theoretical as well as experimental points of view. 

Recent Technical Developments to Promote Nano-Biomechanics... 

AFM has become an indispensable tool when investigating the forces associated with cellular and molecular biomechanical events. However, AFM does not currently have the ability to cause cell wall failure since it can only measure relatively small forces, in a range of nano- to micro-Newtons. 

Hansen, J.H., Liu, Y., Yang, R., Wang, L.Z., 2010. Hybrid nanogenerator for concurrently harvesting biomechanical and biochemical energy. ACS Nano 4, 3647—3652. 

Yang, R.S., Qin, Y., Li, C., Zhu, G., Wang, Z.L., 2009. Converting biomechanical energy into electricity by muscle-movement-driven nanogenerator. Nano Lett. 9, 1201—1205. 

The biomechanical properties of bone critically depend on this hierarchical strnc-ture. The macro-scale organization of osteons and Haversian canals provides long bones with their characteristic mechanical anisotropy. The microscale porosity in bone is ideal for cell migration and vascularization, whereas the nano-scale featnres act as a cell and mineral binding architecture [5]. 

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