Recent advances in experimental testing and computational modelling for characterisation of mechanical properties of biomaterials and biological cells

Biomaterials and biological cells possess a number of different properties; amongst them, mechanical properties are extremely important in studies and applications about tissue engineering, design and development of implants, surgical tools and medical devices for treatments and diagnosis of diseases. Changes in mechanical properties such as a stiffness of cells are often the signs of changes in cell physiology or diseases in tissues; and studying these changes can lead to the development of devices for early disease detection and new drug delivery mechanisms. This paper presents advances in recent years in experimental testing and computational modelling for characterisation of mechanical properties of biomaterials and biological cells, in which the presented research projects and related studies were mainly implemented by research groups in the UK. The recent important findings, research directions and challenges are emphasised and discussed, to open channels for research collaborations in development of cost-effective medical diagnosis and treatment solutions. © Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2018.