FAST 3D MUSCLE SIMULATIONS USING A NEW QUASISTATIC INVERTIBLE FINITE-ELEMENT ALGORITHM

INTRODUCTION Computer models of the musculoskeletal system generally represent muscle geometry using a series of line segments [e.g., 2]. This simplification limits the ability of models to accurately represent the paths of muscles with complex geometry and assumes that moment arms are equivalent for all fibers within a muscle (or muscle compartment). Recently Blemker and Delp [1] demonstrated that three-dimensional (3D) finite-element models of muscle can improve representations of muscles with complex geometry, like the gluteus maximus, which has broad attachments and wraps around underlying structures.