ABSTRACT
Just as a new paper clip and one bent to the point before fracture will have dierent stinesses to hold sheets of paper together, the rupture of the extracellular matrix (ECM) and the cells when a tissue or organ is injured causes a change in the mechanical force at the site of injury (Ingber 2008a, Sims et al. 1992). e body must remodel to compensate for the unbalanced mechanical function and to eventually restore the normal function to an unstressed state. However, in some cases, the organ may never fully remodel or may even propagate improper stresses and cause greater injury, such as hypertrophy of the heart from hypertension. Consequently, the inquisitive scientist can use a mechanical cell stimulator to manipulate stresses that deviate from normal conditions in a controlled environment to determine the subsequent trajectory of a tissue from a healthy to a diseased state. Similarly, to the innovative biomedical engineer, the goal is to engineer functionally viable replacement or regenerative tissues using stress parameters that mimic the native environment to induce the desired ECM remodeling and to reduce the recovery time.
