Architecture of Human Living Fascia. The Extracellular Matrix and Cells Revealed Through Endoscopy

Foreword by Thomas Findley
Foreword by Adalbert I. Kapandji
Preface by Jean-Claude Guimberteau
Preface and acknowledgements by Colin Armstrong
List of Contributors
How to use this book
Glossary
Introduction
History and architecture of living matter
A surgeon’s observations
The return of surgical exploration
Intratissular endoscopy
1 Tissue continuity
Early theories of tissue elasticity
Perioperative intratissular endoscopy leads to a new paradigm
General anatomical conclusions
Detailed anatomical conclusions
Summary
Red thread questions
2 Fibrillar continuity and form
The structuring role of the multimicrovacuolar network
The fibrillar frame
The concept of structured form
Following the red thread
3 Mobility and adaptability
Maintaining tissue continuity during mobility
Mechanical behavior of fibrils and fibers during mobility
Global mechanical result
Following the red thread
4 The relationship between the cells and the fibrillar architecture
Cell morphology and distribution
The relationship between the fibers and the cells
Following the red thread
Conclusion
5 Spatial arrangement, tensegrity, and fractalization
Physical phenomena that influence living tissue
Maximum coverage of a flat surface
Filling the three-dimensional space
The notion of equilibrium at rest and during movement
How form can resist the force of gravity: tensegrity
What is fractal organization?
Following the red thread
6 Adaptations and modifications of the multifibrillar network
Scar tissue and adhesions
Megavacuolar transformation
Cellular overload
The observable mechanical effects of manual therapy
Following the red thread
7 Concept of connective tissue as the architectural constitutive tissue responsible for form
Form can be described
Form is capable of mobility
Forms can become more complex
Afterword
1. Why does nature use spatially simple but irregular polyhedral forms to build a wide diversity of complex forms?
2. Are movements predetermined or random?
3. Why should there be an irregular, chaotic, fractal, non-linear organization when order and linearity have proved to be so effective?
4. Does this multifibrillar system have the capacity to influence cellular genomic processes?
Conclusion
References and further reading
Index

This unique book illustrates the structure of the fascia in the living human being. Dr Guimberteau's photographs provide a detailed account of fascial architecture. The accompanying text explains what the photographs mean, clarifies the importance of the fascia, and sets out the implications of these findings for everyday therapeutic practice.

This beautifully illustrated book provides an introduction to Dr Guimberteau's groundbreaking work. He is the first person to publish video "movies" showing the structure of the fascia and how the fascia responds to it. Based on what can be seen he has developed his own concept of the multifibrillar structural organisation of the body, wherein the "microvacuole" is the basic functional unit. His films confirm the continuity of fibres throughout the body thereby seeming to confirm the tensegrity theory, which provides the basis of many manual therapy and bodywork teachings. His work ties in with that of Donald Ingber on tensegrity within the cytoskeleton, and adds to the evidence linking the cytoskeleton to the extracellular matrix as described by james Oschman.

The book and videos provide, for the first time, an explanatory introduction and explanation of these theories and link them to the visual evidence shown in the video. This material will be highly valued by osteopaths, massage therapists, chiropractors and others as it provides part of the scientific underpinning of their techniques, as well as an explanation of what is happening when they use those techniques to treat their clients.

So Guimberteau's material confirms what manual therapists already believed but didn't fully understand. He has provided an explanation of how fascial layers slide over each other and how adjacent structures can move independently in different directions and at different speeds while maintaining the stability of the surrounding tissues.