This HDR is an opportunity to present the work that I have carried out over the last 10 years through the development of a research activity on biomechanics at CEMEF. This work is structured around two axes: the behavior of living tissues and numerical modeling in biomechanics. First axis: characterization of the mechanical properties of living tissues : One part of my research activity consists in developing a methodology for characterizing the mechanical properties of materials, including biological ones. Regarding soft tissues, my close collaboration with hospital practitioners allowed me to develop a protocol for data collection near the operating room and in the medical imaging department. This protocol required the design and the implementation of an experimental mobile indentation device ("the Rhéobiol forceps"), allowing data acquisition as close as possible to operating room. This original tool - now used in other research laboratories - allowed us to characterize the mechanical behavior of several tissues, such as the uterus, fallopian tubes and the placenta. Second axis: development of numerical models in biomechanics : Modeling the mechanical behavior of the human body supposes to overcome all the difficulties dealing with complex and heterogeneous structures. The implementation process will be presented, starting from simplified models of single homogeneous linear elastic bodies with low deformation levels, up to multibody models, composed by heterogeneous visco-hyperelastic materials undergoing large deformations. Particular attention was paid to medical imaging protocols to build accurate geometric models of the organs and tissues studied. Finite element models obtained have been applied to several biomedical and surgical problems including modeling of a series of surgical gestures in gynecology and ophthalmology, the design of medical devices (such as breast or dental implants) or the assessment of the impact of a surgical intervention in maxillofacial surgery. In addition to a summary of my scientific background, my activities in terms of teaching and supervision of research training, my HDR defense is an opportunity to review a number of results obtained from personal work, collaborations with other researchers in mechanics and medicine and the work of the students I have had the pleasure to coach and train and who contributed to the success of this activity.
