1 Introduction
3
Biomechanics researchers new to the field often come with an engineering
or physics background. I hope these readers will benefit from the introductory
chapters on brain anatomy (Chap. 2) and brain imaging (Chap. 3). The information
contained in these primers should be easily digestible by readers with no medical
background and save them a considerable amount of time spent studying the
specialised literature in these fields.
Chapter 4 discusses mechanical properties of brain tissues. The knowledge of
these properties is a prerequisite for the development of biomechanical models of
the brain.
Chapter 5 describes mathematical modelling and computer simulation of the
brain for injury prevention, and Chap. 6 considers brain modelling issues for
applications in image-guided surgery for brain tumours and surgical simulation.
Chapter 7 extends the methods described in Chaps. 5 and 6 to challenging problem
of epileptic seizure onset zone localisation.
Mathematical modelling and computer simulation have proven tremendously
successful in engineering. Computational mechanics has enabled technological
developments in virtually every area of our lives. One of the greatest challenges
for mechanists is to extend the success of computational mechanics to fields outside
traditional engineering, in particular to biology, biomedical sciences, and medicine
[4]. Chapters 5, 6, and 7 demonstrate that in computational sciences, the most
critical step in the solution of the problem is the selection of the physical and
mathematical model of the phenomenon to be investigated. Model selection is a
heuristic process, based on the analyst’s judgment and experience. Often, model
selection is a subjective endeavour; different modelers may choose different models
to describe the same reality. Nevertheless, the selection of the model is the single
most important step in obtaining valid computer simulations of any investigated
reality [4].
Chapter 8 discusses the biomechanics of blood and cerebrospinal fluid flow
through the brain and the dynamics of intracranial pressure. Unlike the results
presented in Chaps. 5, 6, and 7, the findings described in Chap. 8 have already found
their way into the clinical practice and care of brain injury and disease sufferers.
Chapter 9 describes the most recent developments in computational fluid dynamics of cerebrospinal fluid and blood flow. This field will very soon strengthen the
more heuristic, clinically applicable methods described in Chap. 8.
Often very large and complicated computations are required to extract reliable
information from comprehensive, highly nonlinear biomechanical models of the
brain. Chapters 10 and 11 describe the current best practice in selection of
computational methods for solving models described in Chaps. 5, 6, and 7. This
is probably the most technical part of the book. The reader will require a sound
understanding of numerical methods for partial differential equations, both finite
element and meshless, to fully appreciate these chapters.
This book would not have been possible without the contributions, goodwill, and
help of many people. I thank the authors of the chapters for donating their unique
3
Biomechanics researchers new to the field often come with an engineering
or physics background. I hope these readers will benefit from the introductory
chapters on brain anatomy (Chap. 2) and brain imaging (Chap. 3). The information
contained in these primers should be easily digestible by readers with no medical
background and save them a considerable amount of time spent studying the
specialised literature in these fields.
Chapter 4 discusses mechanical properties of brain tissues. The knowledge of
these properties is a prerequisite for the development of biomechanical models of
the brain.
Chapter 5 describes mathematical modelling and computer simulation of the
brain for injury prevention, and Chap. 6 considers brain modelling issues for
applications in image-guided surgery for brain tumours and surgical simulation.
Chapter 7 extends the methods described in Chaps. 5 and 6 to challenging problem
of epileptic seizure onset zone localisation.
Mathematical modelling and computer simulation have proven tremendously
successful in engineering. Computational mechanics has enabled technological
developments in virtually every area of our lives. One of the greatest challenges
for mechanists is to extend the success of computational mechanics to fields outside
traditional engineering, in particular to biology, biomedical sciences, and medicine
[4]. Chapters 5, 6, and 7 demonstrate that in computational sciences, the most
critical step in the solution of the problem is the selection of the physical and
mathematical model of the phenomenon to be investigated. Model selection is a
heuristic process, based on the analyst’s judgment and experience. Often, model
selection is a subjective endeavour; different modelers may choose different models
to describe the same reality. Nevertheless, the selection of the model is the single
most important step in obtaining valid computer simulations of any investigated
reality [4].
Chapter 8 discusses the biomechanics of blood and cerebrospinal fluid flow
through the brain and the dynamics of intracranial pressure. Unlike the results
presented in Chaps. 5, 6, and 7, the findings described in Chap. 8 have already found
their way into the clinical practice and care of brain injury and disease sufferers.
Chapter 9 describes the most recent developments in computational fluid dynamics of cerebrospinal fluid and blood flow. This field will very soon strengthen the
more heuristic, clinically applicable methods described in Chap. 8.
Often very large and complicated computations are required to extract reliable
information from comprehensive, highly nonlinear biomechanical models of the
brain. Chapters 10 and 11 describe the current best practice in selection of
computational methods for solving models described in Chaps. 5, 6, and 7. This
is probably the most technical part of the book. The reader will require a sound
understanding of numerical methods for partial differential equations, both finite
element and meshless, to fully appreciate these chapters.
This book would not have been possible without the contributions, goodwill, and
help of many people. I thank the authors of the chapters for donating their unique