Biomechanics of the Human
Body -Skeleton
Paytra Klein, Ben Student, Jen Franklin
Skeletal structure
● Skeletal parts
o skeleton is built from bones and cartilage
● Skeleton can be divided into 2 main parts
o Skeletal axis: spinal column, cranial bones, and rib
cage
o Skeletal branches: pelvic girdle, shoulder girdle,arm,
hand, leg, and foot bones
Skeletal functions
● Its role is to support and move the body
● Significantly protects the internal organs
o ex: cranium protects brain, ribs and sternum protect lungs and
heart
● Skeleton forms shape of body and provides the muscles with
connection points
● Plays important role in respiratory process by ventilating lungs
● Used to store mineral ions, such as calcium and phosphorus
Long bone
● builds the limbs and have a cylindrical and elongated structure.
Include arm, femur, and finger bone
Short bone
● Structure is undefined but is generally cubic or rectangular. These
bones can be found in the wrist and the ankle.
Flat bone
●
Also called membranous bones, they are in the shape of a curved board and they
build cavity walls to protect the organs inside them. They are built of three layers outer, inner and middle.
Irregular bones
●
Have a complex structure and lack uniform appearance. Examples
include vertebrae and jaw bones.
BONE INJURY
Fractures
● a lesion in the bone, caused by a strong force on the bone during a
fall or accident.
● usually not life threatening, just painful, unless you tear a blood
vessel which can cause internal bleeding, or damages the nerves
that control the vital organs such as the area of the spinal cord that
controls respiration
Stress Fracture
● injury caused by the erosion of the bone as a result of constant
pressure when a person is in motion and when the body fails to
restore the bone and supply it with calcium because of constant use
● microscopic fractures form in the membrane that surronds the
bone, which grow and become whole fractures if they are not
treated
Osteoporosis
a disease in which thins the bone tissue
●bone density decreases due to a disorder of calcium metabolism in the body
●results:
o bone structure changes
o bones are more easily fractured
●affected by the female hormone estrogen and therefore postmenopausal women are more susceptible
to the disease
●Treatment
o taking estrogen
●also occurs in men
DAMAGE TO JOINTS
Sprain
● caused by a sudden forceful wrench (twist)
or stretch of the joint that results in a torn
ligament or tendon
Dislocation
● occurs when a joint bone moves out of place.
● following the dislocation, the joint loses its mobility, and any
attempt to move the joint causes pain.
lower back pain
● many possible causes:
o disc and joint degeneration b/w the vertebrate
o injury to muscles due to overuse
o “herniated disc”:a disc b/w the vertebrae that contains gel surrounded
● by a ring; if the ring tears, the gel may erupt and press on nerves in the
spinal cord (causing severe pain). some suffer from temporary pain and
some have ongoing pain (a chronic condition)
Bone Tissue
Bone is made up of bone tissue and connective tissue
-the 2 types of bone tissue are…
- spongy bone tissue a sponge-like tissue, made from trabeculae, with large cavities.
Bone marrow tissue is found in these cavities. has osteons
- compact bone tissue: hard bone tissue which gives the bone its strength. It is
made up of osteons.
Bone building and resorption
- Bone tissue is made from bone cells called osteocytes
- osteocytes are bone forming cells that are in the bone matrix (the hard part of the bone) compact bone
tissue. they are arranged in cylindrical rings
- osteoclasts are large cells that nibble at and break down bone and responsible for bone resorption
- osteoblasts are large cells that form a closely packed sheet on the surface of the bone during both initial
bone formation and later during bone remodeling
- the bone constantly goes through processes of construction and destruction where the much of the tissue that
builds the bone is replaced
***bones heels very slowly because the materials needed for the existence of bone cells are transferred through
osteocyte extensions.
cycle
Cartilage
- cartilage is a dense flexible connective tissue
- the structure is similar to bone tissue but it doesn’t contain the minerals,
calcium, and phosphate. Therefore, it is softer than bone
- it is formed from collagen, cartilage cells, and intercellular substance
Cartilage function
- completion of bone growth
- this is between the ages of (18-20)
- bones grow out of the cartilage, and in children it is found between the ends of
long bones
- when done growing the cartilage between bones goes away but cartilage still
remains in some organs such as the nose, ears, joints and more
Why do engineers care about this?
-Engineers need to know what each structure in
the human body does and how it works in order
to replicate or replace it if needed
-Must also know almost all the injuries that can
occur to a body if he/she wants to construct
Something that can fix the pain or damage.