The future of surgery is intrinsically linked to the future of computational sciences: the medical act will be computer assisted at every single step, from planning to post-surgery recovery and through the surgical procedure itself. Looking back at the history of surgery, surgery practice has changed drama- cally with the extensive use of revolutionary techniques, such as medical imaging, laparoscopy, endoscopy, sensors and actuators, and robots. This trend is dependent on the use of computer processing, computational method, and virtualization. Computational surgery will not only improve the ef?ciency and quality of surgery, but will also give new access to very complex operations that require extreme precision and minimum intrusion. Such examples are today's inoperable cancer tumors that have invaded critical tissues or nervous centers. In order for this milestone to be reached quicker and more ef?ciently, surgeons will have to become very familiar with computing methods, such as image analysis, augmented re- ity, and/or robotics. It will be critical for surgeons to assimilate computers in their training, understand how computers work, understand the limitations/advantages of these computer tools, and be able to interpret computer imaging and simulations.

Cell mechanics and cellular engineering may be defined as the application of principles and methods of engineering and life sciences toward fundamental understanding of structure-function relationships in normal and pathological cells and the development of biological substitutes to restore cellular functions. This definition is derived from one developed for tissue engineering at a 1988 NSF workshop. The reader of this volume will see the definition being applied and stretched to study cell and tissue structure-function relationships. The best way to define a field is really to let the investigators describe their areas of study. Perhaps cell mechanics could be compartmentalized by remembering how some of the earliest thinkers wrote about the effects of mechanics on growth. As early as 1638, Galileo hypothesized that gravity and of living mechanical forces place limits on the growth and architecture organisms. It seems only fitting that Robert Hooke, who gave us Hooke's law of elasticity, also gave us the word "cell" in his 1665 text, Micrographid, to designate these elementary entities of life. Julius Wolffs 1899 treatise on the function and form of the trabecular architecture provided an incisive example of the relationship between the structure of the body and the mechanical load it bears. In 1917, D' Arcy Thompson's On Growth and Form revolutionized the analysis of biological processes by introducing cogent physical explanations of the relationships between the structure and function of cells and organisms.