title: Biological variability in biomechanical engineering research: Significance and meta-analysis of current modeling practices.
abstract: Biological systems are characterized by high levels of variability, which can affect the results of biomechanical analyses. As a review of this topic, we first surveyed levels of variation in materials relevant to biomechanics, and compared these values to standard engineered materials. As expected, we found significantly higher levels of variation in biological materials. A meta-analysis was then performed based on thorough reviews of 60 research studies from the field of biomechanics to assess the methods and manner in which biological variation is currently handled in our field. The results of our meta-analysis revealed interesting trends in modeling practices, and suggest a need for more biomechanical studies that fully incorporate biological variation in biomechanical models and analyses. Finally, we provide some case study example of how biological variability may provide valuable insights or lead to surprising results. The purpose of this study is to promote the advancement of biomechanics research by encouraging broader treatment of biological variability in biomechanical modeling.
authors.affiliation: New York University, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Electronic address: Prof.laji@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Douglas
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Cook
authors.affiliation: New York University, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
authors.forename: Margaret
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Julias
authors.affiliation: Purdue University, School of Mechanical Engineering, Weldon School of Biomedical Engineering, Department of Basic Medical Sciences, West Lafayette, IN, USA.
authors.forename: Eric
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Nauman
mesh_terms: D001696:Biomechanical Phenomena; D001698:Biomedical Engineering / Q000379:methods*; D003198:Computer Simulation; D006801:Humans; D008962:Models, Theoretical
keywords: Biological variation; Modeling; Sensitivity analysis