The emergence of solid stress as a potent biomechanical marker of tumour progression.

Cancer is a disease of dysregulated mechanics which alters cell behaviour, compromises tissue structure, and promotes tumour growth and metastasis. In the context of tumour progression, the most widely studied of biomechanical markers is matrix stiffness as tumour tissue is typically stiffer than healthy tissue. However, solid stress has recently been identified as another marker of tumour growth, with findings strongly suggesting that its role in cancer is distinct from that of stiffness.

Bio-inspired design of a magnetically active trilayered scaffold for cartilage tissue engineering.

An important topic in cartilage tissue engineering is the development of biomimetic scaffolds which mimic the depth-dependent material properties of the native tissue. We describe an advanced trilayered nanocomposite hydrogel (ferrogel) with a gradient in compressive modulus from the top to the bottom layers (p < 0.05) of the construct.

Patient-specific fracture risk assessment of vertebrae: A multiscale approach coupling X-ray physics and continuum micromechanics.

While in clinical settings, bone mineral density measured by computed tomography (CT) remains the key indicator for bone fracture risk, there is an ongoing quest for more engineering mechanics-based approaches for safety analyses of the skeleton. This calls for determination of suitable material properties from respective CT data, where the traditional approach consists of regression analyses between attenuation-related grey values and mechanical properties. We here present a physics-oriented approach, considering that elasticity and strength of bone tissue originate from the material microstructure and the mechanical properties of its elementary components.