Ageing USRG EPSRC Summer Busaries 2014
by Michalis Rodosthenous
Michalis Rodosthenous – ‘Development of an open-source finite element model of the knee joint’
I have just completed my 3rd year in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Southampton and after this summer I will be continuing with my 4th and final year of my Master in Engineering (MEng) degree. My chosen theme is Mechatronics but through my 3rd year Individual Project (‘Using graphics rendering techniques for engineering data visualisation’) and modules such as Finite Element Analysis and Orthopaedics Biomechanics I have developed an interest in modeling, data analysis and data visualisation.
This internship project entitled ‘Development of an open-source finite element model of the knee joint’ is supervised by Dr Georges Limbert and involves the development of an advanced finite element model of the knee joint as part of the international SimTK (http://simtk.org). The geometry of the natural knee joint has been acquired from MRI data as part of the OpenKnee project.
This internship project aims to implement state-of-the-art models for soft tissues structures (ligaments, cartilage and menisci) in the commercial finite element code ABAQUS (www.simulia.com) and run a series of finite element analyses to simulate particular knee activities such as flexion. Moreover, advanced rendering techniques will be used to produce attractive visualisations of the models developed.
The finite element models which will be developed through this research project will be made available to the bioengineering research community where they can be used to study the interplay between mechanical properties of soft tissues, knee kinematics and loading conditions for a variety of different scenarios.
Categories: Blog. Tags: ageing, epsrc, geroges limbert, interdisciplinary, interdisciplinary research, michalis rodosthenous, research, University of Southampton, USRG, and vacation bursary.