MRI: Acquisition of Mechanical Testing Equipment to Support Musculoskeletal Research and Engineering Education

这项主要研究仪器（MRI）拨款为购置机械测试设备提供资金，以支持肌肉骨骼研究和工程教育。测量生物组织的力学特性，如韧带和骨骼，对于理解这些组织的功能是很重要的。机械性能的表征通常是通过对组织标本施加已知力并记录由此产生的位移的试验机来完成的。该项目将购买能够进行双轴加载的机械测试设备和相关的运动仪器，主要用于肌肉骨骼和矫形研究。密苏里大学堪萨斯城分校的研究人员正在研究与衰老和肌肉骨骼健康相关的广泛问题，包括运动模拟、肌肉骨骼生物力学、生物材料、骨骼对机械负荷的反应、肌肉疲劳和衰老、骨骼修复和再生以及细胞水平功能。所要求的机械测试设备将显著加强在身体，器官和组织水平的肌肉骨骼研究。此外，仪器将直接纳入机械和土木工程的五门课程。这些课程面向本科生和研究生，他们的教育将通过在最先进的设备上学习而得到加强。位于堪萨斯城中心的计算机与工程学院每年接待数百名来自当地城市堪萨斯城学校的学生，实验室演示是这些访问的重要组成部分。该设备还将服务于堪萨斯城更广泛的研究和工程社区。密苏里大学堪萨斯城分校在拥有200多万人口的堪萨斯城都会区拥有唯一的工程专业。

This Major Research Instrumentation (MRI) grant provides funding for the acquisition of mechanical testing equipment to support musculoskeletal research and engineering eduction. Measuring the mechanical properties of biological tissue, such as ligaments and bone, is important for understanding the function of these tissues. Characterization of mechanical properties is often performed using testing machines that apply a known force to tissue specimens and then record the resulting displacement. This project will purchase mechanical testing equipment capable of bi-axial loading and related motion instrumentation for use primarily in musculoskeletal and orthopaedic research. Researchers at the University of Missouri Kansas City are addressing a broad spectrum of issues related to aging and musculoskeletal health including research in movement simulation, musculoskeletal biomechanics, biomaterials, bone response to mechanical loading, muscle fatigue and aging, bone repair and regeneration, and cell level function. The requested mechanical testing equipment will significantly enhance musculoskeletal research at the body, organ, and tissue levels. In addition, the instrumentation will be directly incorporated into five courses in mechanical and civil engineering. These courses reach a mixture of undergraduate and graduate students whose education would be enhanced through learning on state-of-the-art equipment. Located in the heart of Kansas City, the School of Computing and Engineering hosts hundreds of students per year from local urban Kansas City schools and laboratory demonstrations are an important component of these visits. The equipment will also serve the broader research and engineering communities of Kansas City. The University of Missouri Kansas City has the only engineering program in the Kansas City metro area, a community of over 2 million people.