Dear All:
As anticipated a few days ago, we shall post on the list a few calls for
discussion around topics that are perceived as controversial in the context
of musculo-skeletal biomechanics, in order to identify those to be include
in the 'get it off your chest' session of the BIONET event.
http://www.mk.dmu.ac.uk/bionet/
Mark Thompson suggested the first of these topics. It regards the boundary
conditions that should be considered in a finite element model or an in
vitro experimental set-up aimed to investigate the biomechanical behaviour
of a given musculo-skeletal system. In general, models tend to simplify the
conditions. The point is how far we can go. Should we account for all
muscle actions? Only the major ones? What about the joint forces? Is it
legitimate to model the distal femur as fully encastred when the model
focus on the proximal hip? Is it different when there is a joint
prosthesis? More appropriate, what is the process we should use to answer
to these questions?
I suspect that on this topic more than a controversy we may reach a
consensus. I am aware of various studies (not all published yet) dealing
with these aspects. For the femur I am quite sure that Georg Duda, Jan
Stolk, Luca Cristofolini, Krisztina Polgar and Alberto Pancanti will have
something to say. I would really appreciate if they (and anybody else who
investigated this topic) can find some time to summarise their work and the
conclusions they reached.
Following the suggestion of the list moderators, I recommend to all
colleagues willing to take a position on the matter to write directly to
the list.
Best regards
Marco Viceconti
on behalf of the BIONET Consortium
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MARCO VICECONTI, PhD (viceconti@tecno.ior.it)
Laboratorio di Tecnologia Medica tel. 39-051-6366865
Istituti Ortopedici Rizzoli fax. 39-051-6366863
via di barbiano 1/10, 40136 - Bologna, Italy
Tiger! Tiger! Burning bright in the forest of the night,
what immortal hand or eye could frame thy fearful symmetry?
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