Biomedical research into widespread, potentially fatal health problems like cancer and stroke is being performed. Emphasis is placed upon the extremely important micro-scale mechanics behind biological phenomena and their potential treatments. Working at the micron level is highly suitable for dealing with cellular interactions and mechanical properties as well as for small regions of tissue to examine tissue dynamics. This focus would be beneficial, for example, in thoroughly understanding tumor growth so that it can be stopped or prevented. Furthermore, the circulatory and respiratory systems of humans and animals can be considered natural microfluidics. Such insight into fluid mechanics would be helpful for studies in areas like intravenous delivery of thrombolytics to treat stroke. Mechanical analysis of biological systems on the micro-scale is ideal as it is small enough that a physical interpretation can be utilized over a biological one, while still large enough that the most important factors are not neglected.

Typical concentration profiles of tPA (a) and plasminogen (b) one hour after the start of intravenous tPA administration