Modelling Framework for In-Vivo Knee Joint Contact Analysis

8.75M people in the UK have sought treatment for osteoarthritis (OA) and the condition costs the UK economy £10B/year (Versus Arthritis). Current treatments only alleviate the symptoms or potentially delay progression. To quantify the efficacy of future therapeutics, accurate evaluation of normal and pathological in-vivo knee joint function (movement and loading) are essential.

Traditionally, computational modelling of knee loading relies on marker-based motion capture as input data, creating inaccuracies in the contact dynamics due to soft tissue errors associated with markers attached to the skin. As an innovative response to this limitation, Dynamic Biplane X-Ray imaging (DBX), developed at Cardiff, captures real-time moving images of a volunteer's knee joint during activity. For this studentship, DBX, in combination with high fidelity Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) will provide highly-accurate, subject-specific input data to develop more realistic dynamic musculoskeletal and contact models with associated estimates of tissue loading in healthy and osteoarthritic knees.

This unique interdisciplinary project will integrate existing imaging, experimental and computational technologies into a novel multi-scale modelling framework with the aim to:

- Provide a subject-specific knee modelling framework accounting for movement, loading, anatomy and muscle activity

- Calibrate a knee cartilage model accounting for control and OA cartilage properties using DBX and MRI data

- Validate the multi-scale model using in-vivo data for healthy and OA volunteers

Based on the robust modelling framework developed during the studentship, early surgical and non-surgical therapeutics aiming to normalise the knee's mechanical environment can then be explored.