Concurrent Simulations of Musculoskeletal Movements and Tissue Deformations

In computational biomechanics, there are two well-developed but separate modeling domains: multibody (MB) dynamics for body movements, and finite element (FE) modeling or tissue deformations. State of the art movement simulations make use of accurate musculoskeletal models and allow prediction of resultant forces in joints and muscles. These simulations, however, do not explicitly represent the distribution of mechanical loads within these anatomical structures. One approach to overcome this limitation is to use these resultant loads as input for a finite element model which is then used for postprocessing at specific instants in time.Copyright © 2007 by ASME