Model studies in orthopaedic biomechanics

人体肌肉骨骼系统疾病影响大多数人，是人们在积极工作期间致残的主要原因。虽然许多这些疾病的病因（如腰痛、关节炎）往往是一个不确定的问题，但有充分的证据表明，机械因素起着突出的作用。确定这些因素在观察到的损伤、畸形和退化过程中的作用，通过提高生活质量和生产力，特别是在我们老龄化社会中降低保健费用，使社会各阶层受益。本课题旨在对人体冗余被动-主动躯干系统、单节段和多节段腰椎、椎间盘、完整和重建状态下的被动-主动人体膝关节（包括胫股关节和髌股关节）、关节软骨和关节置换材料进行现实有限元模型研究。这些模型在各种机械载荷、肌肉招募和姿势/运动学/边界条件下执行3D耦合非线性扩散、弹静态、动态、粘弹性和孔弹性分析。我们自己的内部开发程序以及商业上可用的一揽子程序（如Abaqus）将用于进行拟议的研究。上述生物力学模型研究与体内/体外测量相结合（由我们、我们的合作者完成或取自文献）将：(1)显著提高我们对人体躯干、膝关节及其部件的功能生物力学和稳定性以及相关损伤、失效和退行性过程的理解；(2)提出安全、最佳执行职业/娱乐任务的方法和标准；(3)调查和改进目前的运动、评估和康复方案以及手术替代方法；最后(4)分析和改进假肢替代系统的设计。

Disorders in the human musculoskeletal system affect majority of population and are the leading cause of disability in people during their active working years. Although the etiology of many of these disorders (e.g., low-back pain, arthritis) is often a matter of uncertainty, there is ample evidence suggesting that mechanical factors play a prominent role. Identification of the role of these factors in observed injuries, deformities and degenerative processes benefits broad segments of the society by improving quality of life and productivity to reducing health care cost especially in our ageing society. This proposal aims to perform realistic finite element model studies of the redundant human passive-active trunk system, single- and multi-motion segment lumbar spine, intervertebral discs, passive-active human knee joint including tibiofemoral and patellofemoral joints in intact and reconstructed conditions, articular cartilage and joint replacement materials. These models perform 3D coupled nonlinear diffusion, elasto-static, dynamic, viscoelastic and poroelastic analyses under various mechanical loading, muscle recruitments and postural/kinematics/boundary conditions. Our own in-house developed programs as well as commercially available package programs (e.g., Abaqus) will be used to carry out the proposed studies. The foregoing biomechanical model studies in combination with in vivo/in vitro measurements (done by us, our collaborators or taken from the literature) will: (1) markedly advance our understanding of functional biomechanics and stability of the human trunk, knee joints and their components as well as associated injuries, failures and degenerative processes; (2) suggest methods and standards for safe and optimal performance of occupational/recreational tasks; (3) investigate and improve current exercise, evaluation and rehabilitation programs as well as surgical replacement methods and finally (4) analyse and improve designs for prosthetic replacement systems.