A novel method to evaluate human locomotion ability based on the finite element modeling and simulation of musculoskeletal system

A novel method based on the finite element modeling and simulation of human musculoskeletal system was proposed to evaluate the human locomotion ability in this paper. Biomechanical models that compute muscle forces and human joint forces are broadly applicable to the study of factors that promote human musculoskeletal injury and optimize musculoskeletal motion planning. However, it is still difficult to acquire the biomechanical characteristics of human skeletal system in vivo. Especially, there is little research about the biomechanical modeling and simulation of the entire human skeletal system. The finite element method was broadly used various mechanical analyses. It has been used to model and simulate biomechanical behavior of segments of human skeletal system, such as arthrosis, organs and so on. A novel finite element model of the entire human skeletal system was proposed in this paper. As far as we know, there is no similar reports yet. First, the anatomical detailed three-dimension models of human musculoskeletal system were reconstructed from the cross-sectional images of China Visible Human Project. Second, the sectional finite element models of musculoskeletal system was built. And, the finite element model of the entire human musculoskeletal system was integrated. In the end, a weightlifting motor task simulation was implemented as a case study using the proposed method on supercomputer platform Dawning4000A in Shanghai Supercomputer Center. The muscle forces and the skeleton stresses of subject during weightlifting locomotion were obtained. Based on these parameters, the locomotion ability of subject was evaluated. It was validated that the proposed method could provide the inbeing biomechanical information of musculoskeletal system in vivo. Furthermore, it could evaluate human locomotion ability based on these information from a novel viewpoint. ? 2015 National Taiwan University.EI12