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

描述(申请人提供)：膝关节的生物力学已经成为数十年科学和临床研究的目标，因为它在运动中起着重要的作用。关节表现出很高的损伤率和病理状况，例如骨关节炎，这是一种仅在美国就影响2600多万人的衰弱疾病。与任何其他肌肉骨骼关节一样，关节的力学反应是复杂的解剖结构、组织结构的力学特性以及这些组件之间的机械相互作用的结果，负责日常生活活动中的关节功能。计算建模已被广泛应用：以描述性方式挖掘实验数据，以了解膝关节功能为目标；以预测性方式设计植入物并评估手术和治疗干预措施。然而，高保真模型不仅能代表标本特有的解剖结构，而且还能再现标本特有的关节反应和标本特有的组织力学特性，目前还不存在。此外，还没有针对性别、年龄和病理差异的标本特定模型。开发健壮可靠的膝关节模型是一项艰巨的任务。在电子计算机中，应该在关节和组织水平上进行精细的机械测试来支持表示法，这不仅是为了建立模型，也是为了建立对模型的信心。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，以支持高保真膝盖模型的开发。虽然建模工作一般适用于任何肌肉骨骼关节，但将以不同性别的年轻人、老年人和骨关节炎膝关节为目标，并以多个空间尺度上特定标本的方式获得全面的解剖学和力学数据作为支持。为了实现这一目标，我们将表征关节的运动学-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。对于项目管理以及允许社区参与，模型开发和传播工作将得到由Simbios的SimTk.org、斯坦福的NIH生物医学计算中心提供的协作基础设施的支持。在生物力学有限元FEBio的分析下，将开发膝关节的有限元表示法。为了让社区有机会进行模拟，XSEDE(极端科学和工程发现环境)的门户将提供一个计算基础设施。由临床医生和膝关节模型专家组成的顾问委员会将例行确认该项目的方向。采用开放的开发实践，利用可免费获取的软件，并启用基于云的模拟，将为基于社区的模型开发和测试提供机会。通过实验确认的综合膝关节模型的可获得性将为探索健康和患病的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限度的可重用性。

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.