Research

The musculo-skeletal system is composed of muscles, bones, cartilages, ligaments and tendons. Combined, these components fulfill many functions, including movement, posture maintenance, support and protection of internal organs.

At the Bioengineering Institute, the musculo-skeletal research group is aiming to develop an anatomically and biophysically detailed model of the human musculo-skeletal system. In addition, they wish to develop instrumentation for geometric and structural measurements, and for model validation. In the short term, they are focusing on developing a model for accurate analysis of stress in all components of the human knee, which can then be used for diagnostic evaluation and surgical treatment purposes. In the long term, as part of the Physiome Project, their aim is to develop a web-accessible database of the geometry, structure and material properties of the entire human musculo-skeletal system.