The research under this theme pertains to the physical loading and capacity of systems involved in human movement, in particular skeletal elements such as bones, cartilage and ligaments and the muscular system. The effects of loading of these systems is studied at different levels, ranging from the cellular level, via the level of the organ, up to the level of the entire body interacting with the environment.
The central theme of the programme is the dynamic relationship between the loads that occur during daily motor activities and the capacity of the systems involved in a mechanical and/or physiological sense. Changes in load affect the load capacity of the systems involved. This may be in terms of damage and consequent adverse health effects or in terms of adaptation and consequent changes in load capacity. Knowledge of principles governing the relation between loading and load capacity can contribute to formulating guidelines for prevention of disorders of the systems involved in human movement as well as for diagnosis and therapy.
The parts of the research that focus on the level of the whole body are primarily aimed at formulating guidelines for the prevention of overuse injuries of the musculoskeletal system in locomotion and occupational motor tasks with an emphasis on manual materials handling. An ergonomics approach towards these issues is chosen, stressing the interaction of the subject with his or her environment. In addition, important questions within these lines of research centre around the effect of intermuscular coordination on the relationship between the external load as imposed by the motor task and the internal load on relevant musculoskeletal structures.
At the tissue and cellular level, tissue injury and particularly tissue adaptation to changes in the mechanical environment are studied. These lines of research address such diverse topics as bone adaptation after joint replacement, bone formation in ontogenic development and force transmission in muscles after aponeurotomy.
In the clinical setting, diagnosis and treatment of disorders of the musculoskeletal system are evaluated by means of simulations using animal or computer models, experiments on healthy subjects and patients, clinical trials and systematic reviews.

subprogrammes:

TA1: Mechanics of musculoskeletal injury and adaptation
TA2: Mechanobiology of musculoskeletal tissues
TA3: Joint disorders and bone healing