Biomechanical Modelling to Characterize Soft Tissue Contributions to Hip Joint Stability and Loading Mechanics

背景。健康和功能良好的肌肉骨骼系统对我们人口的整体健康，延长预期寿命，医疗保健系统和可持续经济至关重要。提高对髋关节肌肉骨骼功能的了解有助于更好地表征健康受试者的机械性能和损伤机制。尽管肌肉和韧带的软组织对髋关节的活动和稳定至关重要，但我们如何将它们纳入计算模型和模拟以更好地检查特定对象的关节力学和不利载荷条件尚不清楚。目标。这个跨学科研究项目的长期目标是实现生物力学建模和仿真框架，以表征受试者特定的软组织对髋关节的贡献。为了实现这一目标，我们将开发3D应变映射成像技术来检查软组织对关节载荷和稳定性的贡献。受试者的下肢将使用磁共振成像（MRI）进行扫描，同时定制的关节负荷测力仪将对髋关节施加已知负荷。加载条件将被参数化，以了解哪些软组织成分有助于动态稳定性。我们将开发多维扩散成像技术来检查软组织结构和纤维取向与关节稳定性之间的关系。一种新的弥散张量成像方法将制定加权MRI序列检查软组织结构（肌肉，肌腱，韧带/交叉韧带）。这将检查组织各向异性和收缩方向的单个材料特性之间的关系。我们将开发一个计算模拟包来检查关节加载力学和动态软组织加载下的不利条件。动态应变映射和扩散张量成像分析将用于重建健壮的特定主体多尺度肌肉骨骼和有限元模拟，以检查动态髋关节稳定性并确定失败的不利条件。的影响。最重要的发现将帮助科学家和工程师进一步了解健康稳定髋关节的软组织复杂性。这也将帮助专职卫生临床医生管理适当的康复前/康复方案和治疗方案，因为他们将了解哪些软组织负责稳定性。这也将使外科医生能够执行最佳和最安全的特定手术，以获得最佳功能和恢复，因为他们将了解在髋关节置换术或关节镜手术中应该安全移除或避免哪些组织结构。该项目将培养学生推进新型动态关节加载、生物力学成像、计算建模和仿真技术，并为他们的多样化职业道路做好准备，这些职业道路需要多学科的科学和工程经验。

Background. A healthy and well-functioning musculoskeletal system is paramount for our population's overall health, increasing life expectancy, healthcare system, and sustainable economy. An improved understanding of musculoskeletal hip joint function can help better characterize the mechanical performance and injury mechanisms in healthy subjects. Although soft tissue contributions of muscles and ligaments are fundamental to mobilize and stabilize the hip joint, it is unclear how we can incorporate them into computational models and simulations to better examine subject-specific joint mechanics and adverse loading conditions. Objectives. The long-term goal of this interdisciplinary research program is to implement a biomechanical modelling and simulation framework to characterize subject-specific soft tissue contributions to the hip joint. To achieve this, we will develop 3D strain mapping imaging techniques to examine the contributions of soft tissues towards joint loading and stability. Subject lower-limbs will be scanned using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) while a custom joint loading ergometer will apply a known load to the hip. Loading conditions will be parameterized to understand which soft tissue components contribute to dynamic stability. We will develop multi-dimensional diffusion imaging techniques to examine soft tissue architecture and relationships between fibre orientation and joint stability. A novel diffusion tensor imaging method will be formulated for the weighted MRI sequences to examine soft tissue structures (muscles, tendons, capsular/cruciate ligaments). This will examine relationships between individual material properties of tissue anisotropy and contractile directions. We will develop a computational simulations package to examine joint loading mechanics and the adverse conditions under dynamic soft tissue loading. The dynamic strain mapping and diffusion tensor imaging analyses will be used to reconstruct robust subject-specific multiscale musculoskeletal and finite element simulations to examine dynamic hip joint stability and determine the adverse conditions for failure. Impact. The most important findings will help scientists and engineers further understand the soft tissue complexities of a healthy and stable hip joint. This will also help equip allied health clinicians to administer adequate pre/rehabilitation protocols and regiments, as they will learn which soft tissues are responsible for stability. This will also equip surgeons to perform the best and safest subject-specific surgery for optimal function and recovery, as they will learn which tissue structures to safely remove or avoid during hip arthroplasty or arthroscopy surgery. The program will train students to advance novel dynamic joint loading, biomechanical imaging, and computational modelling and simulations techniques as well as prepare them for diverse career paths that necessitate multidisciplinary science and engineering experience.