Recent technological advances in various fields of applied science have radically transformed the strategies and vision of biomedical research. While only a few decades ago scientists were largely restricted to studying parts of biological systems in isolation, mathematical and computational modelling now enable the use of holistic approaches to analyse data spanning multiple biological levels and traditionally disconnected fields.

Mathematical modelling of organs and systems is a new frontier in the biosciences and promises to provide a comprehensive understanding of complex biological phenomena as more than the sum of their parts. Recognizing this opportunity, many academic centres worldwide have established new focuses on this rapidly expanding field that brings together scientists working in applied mathematics, mechanics, computer science, bioengineering, physics, biology and medicine. A common goal of this effort is to stimulate the study of challenging problems in medicine on the basis of abstraction, modelling and general physical principles.

This book is intended for bioengineers, applied mathematicians, biologists and doctors. It provides a brief and rigorous introduction to the mathematical foundations of thin-shell theory and its applications to nonlinear problems of the biomechanics of hollow abdominal viscera. It should be stressed that the text is not directed towards rigorous mathematical proofs of methods and solutions, but rather to a thorough comprehension, by means of mathematical exercises, of the essentials and the limitations of the theory and its role in the study of biomedical phenomena.