Final report

Dates and location

9 April — 10 April 2026, Rennes, France

Chairperson

Nolwenn Fougeron

Co-chairperson

Peter Worsley

Conference fees

Registration fee: 210.00 €
Registration fee - PhD student: 120.00 €

What other funding was obtained?

Funding support from:
Université de Rennes
Rennes Métropole
Région Bretagne
Société de Biomécanique

Other support from:
Centre Inria de l'Université de Rennes

What were the participants offered?

This EuroMech Colloquium was established to address the fragmentation often found in biomechanics research, where studies are frequently siloed by specific organ systems. The genesis of this colloquium lay in a shared frustration: despite significant advances in soft tissue mechanics, the field remained characterised by isolated efforts, limited interdisciplinary dialogue, and a disconnect between experimental, modelling, and clinical communities. The Organising Committee sought to create a scientific forum where such barriers could be openly challenged.

The meeting successfully attracted international leaders to provide a focused, two-day forum dedicated to soft tissue biomechanics. The core mission was to facilitate interdisciplinary discussion and debate to advance the field, identifying recent breakthroughs and charting future directions for scientific research and clinical translation. The colloquium aimed to break barriers in soft tissue research, create collaborative insights and identify future directions for scientific research and translation. The meeting successfully attracted international leaders in the field from across Europe to provide a focussed two day meeting on soft tissue biomechanics. This included a scientific programme with a diverse field of speakers and dedicated time within the Colloquium for targeted discussion (round table sessions).

The registration covered costs of the welcome reception, breaks and lunches and Gala diner.

Applicants (members)

Waël Alliliche
Alice Berardo
Christopher Blase
Nolwenn Fougeron
Sandra Loerakker
Mathias Peirlinck

Applicants (non members)

Benjamin Alheit
Jean-Marc Allain
Pauline Assemat
Stephane Avril
Jean-François Bernaudin
Beatrice Bisighini
Noémie Briot
Karine Bruyère-Garnier
Sabine Cantournet
Cristina Cavinato
Fanette Chassagne
Nathanael Connesson
Carla Cornillon
Chloé Dupray
Morgane Evin
Chiara Giulia Fontanella
Jérémie Girardot
Arnaud Gisquet
Laure-Lise Gras
Ombeline Juteau
Maeva Lamant
Sebastien Laporte
Thomas Lavigne
Simon Le Floc'H
Kevin Linka
Edoardo Mazza
Jerome Molimard
Yohan Payan
Baptiste Pierrat
Rohan Pierre-Yves
Clair Poignard
Kundry Reibel
Eduard Rohan
Alexandre Segain
Stella Sublet-Vial
Dorian Sweidy
Philipp Thurner
Andreas Wittek
Peter Worsley

Scientific report

General Information

Title: Breaking Barriers in Soft Tissue Research: Collaborative Insights and Future Directions

Location : In Rennes (France)

Dates : April 9-10 2026

Participants: 45

Website: https://670.euromech.org

Registration Fees

Delegate Euromech Member: € 210

Delegate non-Euromech Member: € 240

Student Delegate Euromech Member: € 120

Student Delegate non-Euromech Member: € 150

The registration fee covered admission to the full two-day scientific programme (all sessions, coffee breaks and lunches), a Welcome Reception on the evening of 8 April 2026, and a Conference Dinner on the evening of 9 April 2026.

Participation

The colloquium welcomed 43 registered participants (2 registered participants had to cancel last minute for personal reasons) from academic institutions and research centres across Europe. Two speakers were unfortunately unable to attend for personal reasons, but all other registered participants were present throughout the two-day programme.

Country: France (33), Germany (3), Netherlands (3), Italy (2), Austria (1), Switzerland (1), Czech Republic (1), United Kingdom (1)

Overview of the scientific programme

The meeting successfully attracted international leaders to provide a focused, two-day forum dedicated to soft tissue biomechanics. The core mission was to facilitate interdisciplinary discussion and debate to advance the field, identifying recent breakthroughs and charting future directions for scientific research and clinical translation. The colloquium aimed to break barriers in soft tissue research, create collaborative insights and identify future directions for scientific research and translation. The meeting successfully attracted international leaders in the field from across Europe to provide a focussed two day meeting on soft tissue biomechanics. This included a scientific programme with a diverse field of speakers and dedicated time within the Colloquium for targeted discussion (round table sessions).

Key scientific discussions

The colloquium achieved a high level of academic debate by focusing on several critical topic areas:

Multiscale Cell–Tissue Interactions : A primary focus was placed on how cellular mechanics influence the macroscopic behaviour of soft tissues. Discussions detailed the multiscale nature of tissues where biological, mechanical, and biochemical processes are tightly coupled. Presentations addressed scientific challenges in characterising mechanics and microstructure at the cellular and mesoscale levels, from collagen fibril mechanics (Thurner, TU Wien) and corneal deformation (Allain, École polytechnique) to the mechanome of human dermis (Mazza, ETH Zurich) and cardiovascular regeneration computational models (Loerakker, TU Eindhoven). The Junior Scientists' Showcase also featured several contributions at this scale, including studies on atrial appendage anisotropy, spinal meninges collagen organisation, and septal myocardium characterisation.
Experimental Acquisition and Full-Field Measurement : Participants debated methods to improve data acquisition, including 3D digital image correlation (DIC), ultrasound B-mode imaging, optical coherence tomography (OCT), and 4D ultrasound strain imaging. Presentations highlighted how full-field methods are transforming our ability to quantify non-uniform deformation fields in situ and in vivo. Key results were shared on 3D strain measurement in soft tissues (Avril, Mines Saint-Etienne), in vivo bilayer stiffness identification by suction (Connesson, Univ. Grenoble Alpes), and mitral chordae traction testing (Evin, Univ. Gustave Eiffel). The role of preconditioning and initial conditions in mechanical testing was also specifically debated, both in formal presentations and during the round table.
Constitutive Modelling: Complexity, Identifiability, and Data-Driven Approaches : Sessions provided a space to discuss advanced constitutive models describing complex non-linear hyperelasticity, anisotropy, and poroelasticity in soft tissues. Presentations addressed limits of current models, including incompressibility assumptions (Laporte, Arts et Métiers) and parameter identification challenges. Importantly, the colloquium deliberately surfaced the tension between model complexity and scientific necessity. Data-driven approaches including constitutive artificial neural networks (Linka, RWTH Aachen; Peirlinck, TU Delft) were presented as promising alternatives or complements to classical theory-driven modelling, offering paths toward more flexible and data-consistent constitutive laws. Multiscale homogenisation approaches for perfused soft tissues (Rohan, Univ. West Bohemia) complemented these discussions.
Clinical Translation and Industrial Applications : A significant portion of the meeting was dedicated to pathways for translating mechanical advances into improved diagnostic tools and medical devices. This included non-invasive characterisation of abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) tissue via 4D ultrasound (Wittek and Blase, Frankfurt University of Applied Sciences), biomechanics of the large bowel for artificial sphincter design (Fontanella, Univ. Padova), and 3D-printed cellular architectures for adipose tissue engineering (Berardo, Univ. Padova). The colloquium also featured work on intramural aortic injection (Pierrat, Mines Saint-Etienne), large-volume subcutaneous injection characterisation (Molimard, Mines Saint-Etienne), and digital twin applications for pressure ulcer risk assessment (Lavigne; Lamant, Arts et Métiers). These presentations illustrated how the field is moving from fundamental characterisation toward predictive, patient-specific tools.
Junior Scientists' Showcase and Best Presentation Award The scientific committee placed a strong emphasis on early-career researchers throughout the programme. The Junior Scientists' Showcase (Session 5) was dedicated exclusively to PhD students and early-career researchers, allowing them to present their work to international experts from across Europe in a supportive, constructive environment. Eight presentations covered topics spanning brain cancer biomechanics, perineal injury prediction, cardiac tissue characterisation, lung mechanics, pressure ulcer risk, and vascular biomechanics.

This session was widely praised by participants as a highlight of the colloquium. The safe space it created, where young researchers could openly discuss methodological challenges, receive critical but constructive feedback, and connect with senior colleagues across disciplines, reflected the founding spirit of the colloquium. As noted during the closing ceremony, the junior session served as a reminder of why this research community does what it does.

Following audience voting, the Best Student Presentation Award was attributed to Kundry Reibel (PhD student, Sainbiose Lab, Mines Saint-Etienne, France) for her presentation: "Effect of geometric heterogeneity on the apparent mechanical anisotropy of atrial appendages" The result was extremely close, a testimony to the overall high quality of junior contributions.

Round table: "Measuring More to Understand Less?"

The programme featured a dedicated round table session designed to provoke critical reflection on the prevailing assumptions and practices in soft tissue research. This session was co-organised with the CNRS GDR MecaBio Santé and animated by Pauline Assemat (CNRS), bringing together experimentalists, theorists, and modellers in open debate.

The round table was structured around three methodological tensions that the Organising Committee had identified as central but rarely discussed openly in the field:

Complexity vs. Necessity: Discussions questioned if model complexity is imposed by the underlying physics or by a "fear of missing a mechanism," and whether such complexity truly equates to scientific credibility. Yet, a simplified model, although easy to implement, may not be generalisable.
Identifiability vs. Physical Realism: Participants explored the trade-off between simple models that are "false" everywhere versus complex models that are only locally accurate. A key scientific question addressed was whether a parameter that is unmeasurable or unidentifiable retains actual scientific value. A discussion was held on soft tissue experimental setups, including whether preloading and preconditioning should be performed during experiments.
Validation and Scientific Value: The session challenged the standard for "validation," questioning if a model is truly validated if only a macroscopic quantity is predicted correctly, or if validation must be inherently more rigorous than identification.

The round table was one of the most valued moments of the colloquium. Rather than seeking consensus, it succeeded in exposing underlying assumptions, clarifying methodological tensions, and encouraging constructive debate across communities. The Wooclap audience response system was used to gauge participants' pre- and post-session positions, revealing how the debate genuinely shifted perspectives. Participants repeatedly described the session as a 'scientific safe space', a rare opportunity to question not just what we know, but how we know it.

Scientific programme

Session 1: Connecting Cell and Tissue Mechanics

1-1. Philipp Thurner – Collagen mechanics from the molecular to the mesoscale
1-2. Jean-Marc Allain – Multiscale mechanics of human cornea
1-3. Cristina Cavinato – Local deformation mechanisms in fibrous soft tissues: A 3D experimental approach
1-4. Beatrice Bisighini – Multiscale assessment of the mechanical behaviour of perineal tissues via experimental testing and structural analysis
1-5. Edoardo Mazza – On the mechanome of human dermis
1-6. Sandra Loerakker – Computational models to understand and advance cardiovascular regeneration

Session 2: Round Table “Measuring More to Understand Less?”

Moderator: Pauline Assemat

Topic 1: Complexity of models:
1. Is complexity imposed by physics—or by our fear of missing a mechanism?
2. Does complexity equal credibility?
3. Is there reviewer pressure driving model sophistication?

Participants : Sandra Loerakker , Sébastien Laporte

Topic 2: Identifiability vs. physical realism:
1. The difficult trade-off: Is a simple but “false” model everywhere better, or a complex model that is only locally accurate?
2. The meaning of parameters: Does a parameter that is unmeasurable or unidentifiable have scientific value? Is identifiability a prerequisite for prediction?
3. Data vs. Realism: Is a “non-identifiable” but clinically predictive model acceptable? Do more parameters mean more “physics” or simply a better fit?
4. What are the good practices in soft tissue mechanical characterisation ?

Participants : Noémie Briot, Laure-Lise Gras

Topic 3: Validation & Scientific Value:
1. Is a model truly “validated” if only a macroscopic quantity is predicted correctly? Must validation be inherently more rigorous than identification?
2. How can validation be integrated across full-field strain measurements, structural data, and 3D experimental approaches?
3. Does a model that “works by chance” or through error compensation retain scientific value? What is the actual link between measurement quality and the relevance of validation?

Participants : Stéphane Avril, Morgane Evin

Session 3: Clinical and Industrial Applications of Soft Tissue Research

3-1. Andreas Wittek – Predictive value of ultrasound strain imaging for AAA rupture risk and wall strength
3-2. Christopher Blase – In vivo validation of 4D-US strain imaging based material identification of AAA tissue
3-3. Chiara Fontanella – Biomechanics of the human large bowel: experimental testing and constitutive modelling
3-4. Alice Berardo – From geometry to function: 3D-printed cellular structures for adipose tissue engineering applications

Session 4: Innovative Experimental Techniques of Tissue Characterisation

4-1. Stéphane Avril – Full-field 3D strain measurement in soft tissues
4-2. Nathanaël Connesson – In vivo bilayer material young moduli identification using suction only
4-3. Noémie Briot – Addressing initial condition uncertainty in large-deformation testing of soft tissues
4-4. Morgane Evin – Traction tests of ovine and porcine mitral chordae
4-5. Laure-Lise Gras – The bias extension test to measure shear on human iliotibial band samples

Session 5: Junior Scientists' Showcase

5-1. Carla Cornillon – The impact of large deformation in brain cancer modeling
5-2. Chloé Dupray – Mechanical modelling of the external anal sphincter under tensile loading for birth-injury prediction
5-3. Dorian Sweidy – Mechanical characterization and numerical approach of porcine septal myocardium
5-4. Arnaud Gisquet – Linking hemodynamics and wall mechanics to model aneurysm growth
5-5. Ombeline Juteau – Effect of freezing on the mechanical behaviour of whole organ – Application to the swine lung parenchyma
5-6. Maeva Lamant – Role of subcutaneaous adipose tissue in pressure ulcer risk: Viscoelastic properties under uniaxial compression
5-7. Kundry Reibel – Effect of geometric heterogeneity on the apparent mechanical anisotropy of atrial appendages
5-8. Stella Sublet Vial – Collagen organisation in Porcine Spinal Meninges: A Benchmark of SHG image analysis

Session 6: Advanced Constitutive Models of Soft Tissues

6-1. Simon Le Floc’h – On the validity of incompressibility and mechanical homeostasis assumptions in cartilage growth models
6-2. Sébastien Laporte – Almost incompr(hen)ssible? Careful, not that much!
6-3. Thomas Lavigne – Poromechanics to investigate the impact of mechanical loading on human skin micro-circulation
6-5. Eduard Rohan – Multiscale modelling of perfused soft tissues in wave propagation and transport problems
6-6. Mathias Peirlinck – Neural constitutive modelling for soft tissues: Supervised discovery, Bayesian uncertainty and finite element deployment

Session 7: Current Challenges and Future Directions in Soft Tissue Characterisation

7-1. Jérôme Molimard – Experimental study of structural changes in subcutaneous tissue during large volume injection
7-2. Baptiste Pierrat – Intramural injection on porcine aorta: Injection rate modulates dissection propagation thresholds
7-3. Jérémie Girardot – Discrete fiber-network modelling of soft tissue
7-4. Simon Le Floc’h – Preliminary results on a model material for characterizing hydro-chemical-mechanical couplings

Opinions and suggestions for the Future

The colloquium was met with very positive feedback from participants. Several themes emerged from discussions and informal exchanges:

Format : The two-day focused format was identified as a key strength. With a deliberately limited number of participants (45), the colloquium maintained the intimacy and quality of exchange that distinguishes EUROMECH colloquia from larger conferences. Participants valued the extended discussion time within and between sessions, and the absence of parallel tracks, which ensured that everyone shared the same scientific experience.
Interdisciplinary Dialogue: The cross-disciplinary composition of the audience (spanning experimental biomechanics, computational modelling, clinical applications, and material science) was consistently cited as a major added value. Bringing experimentalists and modellers into direct conversation (including in structured formats such as the round table) was identified as an approach worth replicating in future events.
Round Table Format: The round table was highlighted as an original and valuable feature that should be continued or even expanded in future colloquia. Several participants suggested that dedicating more time to open debate, and potentially involving the full audience in structured question formats, could deepen the conversation further. The partnership with the GDR MecaBio Santé enriched the session and could be extended to future collaborative events.
Junior Integration : There was strong consensus that the dedicated Junior Scientists' Showcase should be a standard feature of any future event on this topic. The visibility and recognition it provides to early-career researchers was seen as an important contribution of the colloquium.

Suggestions for a Follow-up Event

The colloquium generated significant interest and enthusiasm among participants for continued interdisciplinary exchange in soft tissue biomechanics. Several attendees expressed interest in a follow-up event. A dedicated meeting bringing together experimentalists, modellers, and clinicians on this topic would be strongly beneficial for the field.

Acknowledgements

The Organising Committee wishes to warmly thank all speakers, participants, and session chairs whose intellectual engagement made the Colloquium a genuine scientific success.

Special thanks are due to the following institutions and organisations for their financial and logistical support:

Centre Inria de l'Université de Rennes
Université de Rennes
Société de Biomécanique
Rennes Métropole
Région Bretagne
GDR CNRS MecaBio Santé (for co-organising the Round Table)

The committee also thanks EUROMECH for its support and for providing the institutional framework that made this colloquium possible.

Number of participants from each country

Country	Participants
France	33
Netherlands	3
Germany	3
Italy	2
Switzerland	1
Czech Republic	1
Austria	1
United Kingdom	1
Total	45