Welcome!

This website has been created by Samir Shreim as part of the University of California Irvine's clinical medicine course for Biomedical Engineers.  Here we will analyze the effects of mechanical stresses on the cardiovascular system and explore two possible mechanisms for mechanotransduction.  We begin with a fundemental development of the concept of stress, the stress tensor and shear stress in particular.  We then shift gears and examine blood vessel architecture and the role shear signaling plays in cardiovascular physiology.  Finally, we present two theoretical models that attempt to explain mechanosensing from a molecular perspective. 

Enjoy!