Data Acquisition for Specimen-Specific Computational Models

Advances in medical imaging techniques and computing power have allowed for the creation of sophisticated joint models that include anatomical soft tissue geometries. However the models still require experimental data of the joint’s mechanical response in order to validate the model and accurately predict joint biomechanics. Experimental methods to acquire data of the joint’s mechanical response have a long history in biomechanics [1], but it has been found that the validation of models [2] based on previously collected experimental data has been difficult because of the large inter-specimen variability. A shift, therefore, has taken place emphasizing the development of specimen specific models. Our aim was to develop a method by which the mechanical response of the knee could be measured and used as input and validation data for a specimen specific computational model.