5th World Congress of Biomechanics

The 5th World Congress of Biomechanics was held between 29th July and 4th August 2006 in Munich, Germany. The congress was the fifth in a series of international meetings on biomechanics that takes place in Europe only once every 12 years. Previous meetings were held in San Diego, CA, USA (1990), Amsterdam, The Netherlands (1994), Sapporo, Japan (1998) and Calgary, Canada (2002). These quadrennial meetings provide a unique opportunity for engineers, material scientists, biologists, clinicians and other scientists to meet and discuss the latest advances in the field of biomechanics. The 5th World Congress of Biomechanics additionally included the 15th Conference of the European Society of Biomechanics, the 31st Congress of the Societé de Biomécanique and the 4th European Society for Engineering and Medicine International Symposium on Microdamage. From the record number of abstracts submitted, almost 3000, there were approximately 2800 accepted for either podium or poster presentation. To further indicate the size and importance of the congress, there were over 2300 attendees. The presentations were divided into 20 ‘tracks’ that covered the whole field of biomechanics. These were: bone mechanics, musculoskeletal mechanics, musculoskeletal systems and performance, implants for trauma and orthopedics, occupational and impact injury biomechanics, sport biomechanics, dental biomechanics, computer-assisted surgery, tissue engineering, cellular and molecular biomechanics, artificial organs, biomaterials, respiratory mechanics, cardiovascular mechanics, microcirculation, reproductive biomechanics, biomechanics in nature, trends in cranial and spinal biomechanics, biotransport and biomechanics of organs. In addition, the World Council for Biomechanics was experimenting with a new system of ‘threads’, which were to be woven in perpendicularly to the parallel tracks. There were four threads: computational methods, flow–structure interactions, biomechanics at microand nanoscales, and imaging. This remarkably broad coverage meant that there were usually approximately 19 sessions running in parallel. There were individual sessions on a wide range of topics including advanced detection of bone quality, biotribology, cartilage biomechanics, implantable telemetry, plant biomechanics and artificial lungs and oxygenators. Furthermore a number of sessions were held jointly with the European Society of Biomechanics and the International Society of Biomechanics. There were dedicated poster sessions on the Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday of the congress; this gave the delegates a good opportunity to view posters and meet with authors. In addition to the presentations, there were trade stands representing a number of bodies concerned with biomechanics, from organizations such as the European Society of Biomechanics to manufacturers and suppliers such as MTS Systems, Bose, CeramTec, Kistler, Instron, Siemens, Vicon Peak and AMTI. Following workshops, meetings and an opening ceremony over the weekend of the 29th and 30th July, the remaining 5 days of the Congress took a more regular form, beginning with presentations in tracks at 8.15 am and usually running until 6.30 pm. What follows are details of sessions that will hopefully be of most interest to readers.