Biomechanics is defined as “the study of the structure and function of biological systems by means of the methods of mechanics.” Hatze, H., Journal of Biomechanics 7: 189-190 (1974). Injury biomechanics applies Newtonian mechanics to examine whether forces acting on and within the body may be sufficient to cause specific injuries to the body. While medical doctors and biomechanists offer complementary testimony, they are not wholly overlapping. Biomechanists do not provide diagnoses or offer opinions on treatment of injuries. Instead, they offer opinions regarding the mechanical forces acting on and with a body during a traumatic event. Their opinions involve identifying and explaining the physical relationships of the identified injuries (diagnosed by physicians) to the mechanical loading (trauma) that gave rise to such injuries. A biomechanist is typically needed to provide this testimony. Proper training in biomechanics requires many years of study and builds upon not only advanced mathematics, but physics, anatomy, physiology, and engineering principals. The science of impact biomechanics is a specifically focused discipline distinct from clinical medicine.
Experts—Biomechanical Engineers versus Physicians