Open Knee(s): Virtual Biomechanical Representations of the Knee Joint

描述（由申请人提供）：由于膝关节在运动中的重要作用，其生物力学已成为数十年科学和临床研究的目标。关节损伤和病理状况的发生率很高，例如骨关节炎，这是一种使人衰弱的疾病，仅在美国就有2600多万人受到影响。与任何其他肌肉骨骼关节一样，关节的机械响应负责其在日常生活活动中的功能，是复杂的解剖结构、组织结构的机械特性以及这些组成部分之间的机械相互作用的结果。计算建模已被广泛使用：以描述性的方式，以了解膝关节功能为目标挖掘实验数据；以预测的方式，设计植入物，评估手术和治疗干预。尽管如此，目前尚不存在既能代表特定标本解剖结构，又能再现特定标本关节响应和特定标本组织力学性能的高保真模型。此外，没有针对性别、年龄和病理差异的标本特异性模型。开发健壮可靠的膝关节模型是一项艰巨的任务。在硅表征应该支持在关节和组织水平上进行详细的机械测试，不仅要建立模型，而且要建立对它们的信心。在与国家生物医学计算中心的合作中，我们的目标是建立一个由众包和云计算支持的平台，以实现高保真膝关节模型的开发。建模工作虽然一般适用于任何肌肉骨骼关节，但将针对不同性别的年轻人、老年人和骨关节炎膝关节，并在多个空间尺度上以标本特异性方式获得全面的解剖和力学数据。为了实现这一目标，我们将描述关节的运动学响应，以及关节子结构的材料特性。解剖重建将基于高分辨率磁共振成像。为了项目管理和允许社区投入，模型开发和传播工作将由斯坦福国立卫生研究院生物医学计算中心Simbios的SimTk.org提供的协作基础设施提供支持。膝关节的有限元表示将被开发，通过FEBio进行分析，生物力学的有限元。为了让社区有机会进行模拟，XSEDE（极限科学与工程发现环境）的网关将提供计算基础设施。由临床医生和膝关节建模专家组成的咨询委员会将例行确认项目的方向。采用开放的开发实践，利用可自由访问的软件，以及启用基于云的模拟，将为基于社区的模型开发和测试提供机会。实验证实的综合膝关节模型的可及性将为探索健康和患病膝关节力学以及建立适应膝关节功能障碍的生物力学管理策略提供最大的可重用性。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The biomechanics of the knee has been the target of decades of scientific and clinical studies due to its significant role in locomotion. The joint exhibits high rates of injury and pathological conditions, e.g. osteoarthritis, a debilitating disese influencing more than 26 million only in the United States. As in any other musculoskeletal joint, the mechanical response of the joint, responsible for its function during activities of daily livin, is the result of the complex anatomical construction, the mechanical properties of its tissue structures, and the mechanical interactions between these components. Computational modeling has been utilized broadly: in a descriptive fashion, to mine experimental data with the goal of understanding knee function; and in a predictive fashion, to design implants and assess surgical and therapeutic interventions. Nonetheless, high fidelity models, not only representative of the specimen-specific anatomy but also capable of reproducing specimen-specific joint response and specimen-specific tissue mechanical properties, do not exist. In addition, specimen-specific models, addressing differences in genders, ages, and pathologies, are not available. Development of robust and reliable knee joint models is a daunting task. In silico representations should be supported by elaborate mechanical testing at joint and tissue levels not only to build the models but also to establish confidence in them. In this collaboration with National Centers for Biomedical Computing, our goal is to establish a platform, supported by crowd-sourcing and cloud computing, to enable development of high fidelity knee models. Modeling efforts, while generally applicable to any musculoskeletal joint, will target at young, elderly, and osteoarthritic knees of different genders, supported by comprehensive anatomical and mechanical data acquired in a specimen-specific manner at multiple spatial scales. To accomplish this goal, we will characterize the joint kinetic-kinematic response, and the material properties of the joint's substructures. Anatomical reconstruction will be based on high resolution magnetic resonance imaging. For project management and also to allow community input, model development and dissemination efforts will be supported by the collaborative infrastructure provided by SimTk.org of Simbios, NIH Center for Biomedical Computation at Stanford. Finite element representations of the knee joint will be developed, with the analysis conducted by FEBio, finite elements for biomechanics. To give the community the opportunity to conduct simulations, a computation infrastructure will be provided by a gateway to XSEDE, Extreme Science and Engineering Discovery Environment. An advisory board of clinicians and knee modeling experts will routinely confirm the direction of the project. Adoption of open development practices, utilization of freely accessible software, and enabling cloud-based simulations will provide the opportunity for community-based development and testing of the models. Accessibility to experimentally confirmed comprehensive knee models will provide utmost reusability for the exploration of healthy and diseased knee mechanics and for establishing biomechanical management strategies to accommodate knee dysfunction.