Research Summary

The long range goal of our research activities is to provide the computation/simulation tools and graphical user interfaces that allow the medical researcher, designer and clinician to simulate patient-specific function of human tissues and organs, and link that function to characteristics of the natural or synthetic material, including its cellular and genetic composition. These functional-tissue-engineering tools will allow the clinician and engineer to make decisions based on engineering analysis of tissue function in human systems such as the musculoskeletal or cardiovascular system, and be an integral part of the design of patient-specific diagnosis and treatment.

Our research laboratory is currently focused on developing computational formulations and algorithms, based on the finite element method, for the 3-D analysis of soft hydrated tissues such as articular cartilage in the human musculoskeletal system. With the support of a National Science Foundation High Performance Computing and Communication Grand Challenge grant titled "Understanding Human Joint Mechanics through Advanced Computational Methods," and the National Institute of Health, we are engaged in interdisciplinary and inter institutional research to understand the mechanical response of diarthrodial joints. Finite element formulations, automatic mesh generation methods, methods for error control, graphical user interfaces and parallel algorithms under development within the Scientific Computation Research Center (SCOREC) at Rensselaer are coupled with human joint geometric and material properties measured by our collaborators at the Orthopedic Research Laboratory at Columbia University. These computational and simulation tools will allow us to study the normal and pathologic response of human joints such as the knee, carpometacarpal joint of the thumb, and glenohumeral joint of the shoulder, as well as the intervertebral disk of the spine.

For example, the images on this page show a 3D solid model of the human knee, isolated 3D models of the knee tissue layers, and the simulation results showing the mapping of principal stress in the tissue layers. The orthopedic-related simulation tools and user interfaces used to produce these results will ultimately allow surgeons to plan patient-specific care using analysis-based tools, evaluating alternate surgical protocols and treatments, thereby contributing to improved surgical outcome. They represent the first major application area in our long-range efforts to provide a comprehensive set of simulation tools in biomedical engineering.