Soft Tissue Biomechanics | ZHAW Institute of Mechanical Systems IMES

The field soft tissue biomechanics focuses on the mechanics of soft biological tissues and biomedical materials and structures. It is the newest research field within the Technical Focus Biomechanical Engineering and is currently under development.

Methodologies

Multi-scale experiments for mechanical characterization of microstructure-based materials (biological tissues, textiles, etc.) - (Figures 1, 2)
Experimental continuum mechanics for the evaluation and analysis of local deformations using digital image correlation (DIC) - (Figures 1-3)
Computational modeling for structural analyses at different length scales - (Figure 2)

Objectives

Derive criteria for the evaluation of the mechanical biocompatibility of biomedical materials and structures - (Figure 1, 4)
Explore the mechanobiology of biomedical materials and structures, i.e. the interplay between mechanics and cell behavior
Develop standardized protocols for the mechanical evaluation of soft biomedical materials (implant materials, scaffolds for tissue engineering, etc.) - (Figure 1, 4)

Figure 1 Digital image correlation: setup for uniaxial stress tests on polymeric membranes: local strain analysis is done by digital image correlation (DIC)

Figure 2 Experimental analyses and computational modeling: a) experimental setup for planar tension testing using a system for digital image correlation (DIC), b) soft solid liquid composite sample, c,d) experimental e),f) numerical local strain distribution at 10% global nominal strain

Figure 3 Unconventional test-setups: setup for organ insufflation tests: a porcine kidney is insufflated with physiological solution; the pressure in the organ is measured for controlled insufflated volumes.

Figure 4 Mechanical biocompatibility and mechanobiology of pelvic floor meshes: a) anatomy of the female pelvic floor with a representative mesh implantation site (blue), b) representative shape of a pelvic floor mesh; c) while current meshes are mainly large porous polypropylene meshes, this research aims at new nanofibrous materials.

Projects

Publications

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Baumgartner, Tobias; Ignasiak, Dominika; Röhrnbauer, Barbara,

2026.

Implementation of a musculoskeletal pelvic floor model and simulation of physiological scenarios[poster].

In:

9th International Conference on the Virtual Physiological Human (VPH), Milan, Italy, 1-4 September 2026.

Winterthur:

ZHAW Zurich University of Applied Sciences.

Available from: https://doi.org/10.21256/zhaw-37771
Röhrnbauer, Barbara; Zimmerli, Joël; Hofmann, Jonas,

2025.

Numerical validation of an in-situ test method to quantify the microscale kinematics of nanofibrous membranes based on continuum mechanics[paper].

In:

11th GACM Colloquium on Computational Mechanics, Braunschweig, Germany, 21-24 September 2025.
Hofmann, Jonas; Zimmerli, Joël; Scherrer, Christof; Röhrnbauer, Barbara,

2025.

Quantifying the microscale kinematics of nanofibrous membranes by in-situ tensile testing.

In:

Abstracts of the 2025 Joint Annual Conference of the Austrian (ÖGBMT), German (VDE DGBMT) and Swiss (SSBE) Societies for Biomedical Engineering.

Joint Conference of the Swiss (SSBE), Austrian (ÖGBMT) and German (VDE DGBMT) Societies for Biomedical Engineering, Muttenz, Switzerland, 9-11 September 2025.

Berlin:

De Gruyter.

pp. 75.
Röhrnbauer, Barbara; Betschart, Cornelia,

2025.

Novel interdisciplinary pathways in pelvic floor disorder diagnosis and treatment.

In:

30th Congress of the European Society of Biomechanics, Zurich, Switzerland, 6-9 July 2025.
Zimmerli, Joël; Hofmann, Jonas; Röhrnbauer, Barbara,

2024.

A continuum mechanics based quantification of microscale kinematics of nanofibrous membranes[poster].

In:

Annual Meeting of the Swiss Society for Biomedical Engineering SSBE Abstract Book.

Annual Meeting of the Swiss Society for Biomedical Engineering SSBE, Winterthur, Switzerland, 5 September 2024.

SSBE.

pp. 42.

Available from: https://doi.org/10.21256/zhaw-32725