Computational Biomechanics

From orthopaedics to rehabilitation, computational analysis of biological systems, human or otherwise, can offer important insight into otherwise difficult to understand systems. Within and across scales ranging from molecules to human movement, computational biomechanics has been used to elucidate complex relationships between mechanics and biological response. Depending on the goal, computational biomechanics based studies can be accomplished using various means, including finite-element analysis and multibody dynamics. Related, such analyses can be bolstered using iterative routines that aim to create more useful representations of reality in light of uncertainties in the modeling process. Within this realm it is often a goal to understand healthy versus diseased function as well as to support the design of effective interventions. Examples include design and analysis of joint implants, reconstruction procedures, fracture fixation devices, and stents.

Members of the Applied Sciences Laboratory are active in the field of computational biomechanics. Examples of our work and expertise include:

• Simulation of joint mechanics in healthy and diseased states
• Development of tools to support design of orthopaedics related devices
• Modeling for reproducibility
• Design of experiments for the purpose of model development
• Inverse modeling for joint- and tissue-specific assessment of mechanical response
• Uncertainty analysis
• Surrogate modeling
• Verification and validation of biomechanics models
• Multiscale analysis of tissue and cellular mechanics