The Image-Based Biomechanics (IBB) Laboratory combines imaging, biology, and mechanics of materials to understand the relationship between tissue microstructure and function, particularly in the context of soft tissue injury.
Tissues often exhibit disrupted or abnormal microstructure, or extracellular matrix, in the early stages of injury, degeneration, and disease, but direct detection of these changes requires invasive optical imaging methods. Our long-term goal is to develop mechanics-based technology that leverages structure-function relationships to “see” tissue microstructure, with lower resolution, non-invasive imaging modalities (e.g., MRI, ultrasound).
We use a combination of experimental and computational approaches, including mechanical testing, deformation tracking via microscopy or MRI, and constitutive modeling with full-field inverse methods. Check out our publications or contact Dr. Luetkemeyer for more information.
