A computational framework for simultaneous estimation of muscle and joint contact forces and body motion using optimization and surrogate modeling

Modeling and simulation of muscle and joint contact forces has the potential to improve patient care for movement-related disorders. Reliable concurrent estimation of these forces along with joint kinematics could be used to predict joint replacement performance, surgical outcomes, and rehabilitation strategies for a variety of musculoskeletal disorders. Most studies that predict muscle and joint contact forces model biological joints as constraint-based engineering joints. In those studies, muscle and joint contact forces are calculated by following a two-step process: (1) Muscle forces are computed using a multibody dynamic skeletal model and optimization, and then (2) Associated joint contact forces are calculated from knowledge of the muscle forces and joint reaction forces from inverse dynamics [1 –4].

Source: Medical Engineering and Physics - February 24, 2018 Category: Biomedical Engineering Authors: Ilan Eskinazi, Benjamin J. Fregly Source Type: research