Biomechanics

Injury biomechanics is the study of the cause or mechanism of injuries, determined by examining the forces and movements required to damage the bodily structures. Biomechanical engineers are primarily concerned with the mechanical factors leading up to an injury while other practitioners, such as physicians, are generally involved with the diagnosis, management, and treatment following an injury. In biomechanics, scientific and engineering principles and data are used to identify the cause of injuries, rather than anecdotal reports and patient histories. Biomechanical analyses often incorporate kinematic (the study of the motion of objects) and kinetic (the study of the forces that produce motions) analyses of humans. Occupant Kinematics, the study of vehicular occupant movements during an accident, may be performed in the course of a biomechanical assessment.