Location: Glad Medical, Laboratoire de Biomécanique Appliquée (UMRT24 Ifsttar / AMU), Marseille,France

Contract Type: Full Time (3 years)


Context & Objectives
Surgical procedures to replace dental implants offer tremendous opportunities for biomechanical simulations
to improve clinical techniques. The short- and long-term clinical outcomes of dental implants
are highly dependent on the mechanical environment of the bone-implant system. It is very difficult to
generalize this environment because there are large differences between patients in parameters such
as bone geometry and bone-implant mechanical properties. Therefore, in order to develop a realistic
biomechanical simulation tool for surgical planning, all these parameters must be taken into account.

Glad Medical, in close collaboration with the Laboratory of Applied Biomechanics (Aix-Marseille University)
and clinicians, has recently developed a biomechanical model of implanted human mandible
and maxilla, as well as an estimation pipeline allowing to personalize the model based on clinical
images. So far, the group has focused on personalizing the geometry and heterogeneous mechanical
properties of the bone. The current Ph.D. topic aims to improve this pipeline by adding a mechanical
performance prediction module. This module will be based on innovative criteria and methods that take
into account the potential risk of fatigue failure, the quality of long-term bone-implant osseointegration,
bone damage and any other relevant criteria.

The Ph.D. work includes:
• The processing of CT /CBCT images of patients
• Developing the FE patient-specific model with existing automated Python and Tcl/Tk scripts
• Implementing the application of patient-specific masticatory force into the model
• Extension of the FE model by implementing the mechanical performance prediction module
• Performing mechanical tests on the bone-implant system

Keywords
Numerical Simulation, Mechanics of Materials and Structures, Biomechanics; Image-based Modeling;
Dental Implants; Fatigue; Osseointegration

Candidate profile
The candidate should have a fair understanding of finite element simulation, with knowledge of
continuum mechanics, biomechanics, and numerical methods. He/She should have a solid background
in computational programming, and also have an interest in the medical devices.

Work environment
The work will take place in the Glad Medical R&D office on the premises of medical campus of Aix-Marseille University . The Ph.D. will begin in January 2022.

Contacts
Mohsen Nakhaei, R&D Glad Medical, mna@gladmedical.com
Michel Behr, Laboratoire de Biomécanique Appliquée, michel.behr@univ-eiffel.fr

Applications via e-mail (in a single pdf file):
- Curriculum vitae
- Motivation letter