Biomechanical aspects in tissue engineering

This article provides a very brief overview of how some major mechanical properties of biological tissue and their substitutes can be described and quantified in basic form in order to understand their physiological functioning from the viewpoint of tissue regeneration, then allowing new developments in tissue engineering. After shortly reviewing the main rheological properties we have focused on the related phenomena of mass and momentum transport through tissue, considering the poroelastic characteristics of these media. Using very rough approach, it is shown how the biphasic nature of these media can influence mechanical stresses and nutriment feeding of the imbedded cells.