We have developed methods to construct individualized models of the musculoskeletal system from magnetic resonance (MR) images. We are creating image-based models for a variety of different purposes. For example, we have built musculoskeletal models to characterize musculoskeletal geometry in persons with cerebral palsy, develop finite-element three-dimensional models of muscle, and finite-element models of the knee to characterize patellofemoral contact stresses in persons with patellofemoral pain.

We have created a variety of models based on magnetic resonance (MR) image data. We have created kinematic models that represent muscles as a series of line segments, finite-element models that represent muscles as three-dimensional solids, and finite-element models that characterize cartilage and bone stresses.

NMBL is creating a general pipeline for creating models of musculoskeletal structures from image data. We are building upon 3D Slicer, which is a free, open-source, extensible software package for image processing.  Initially developed in the late 1990s at MIT as a conglomeration of visualization and image-guided surgery software from Harvard, Slicer has since grown tremendously in popularity.  Slicer is used primarily for constructing 3D geometric models of human anatomy from medical images, but is unique in that it allows researchers to develop and add their own algorithms to Slicer.  It contains many basic tools for manual and automatic segmentation and registration, measurement, model construction, and visualization.

Associated Publications

Besier, Gold, Beaupre, and Delp. A modeling framework to estimate patellofemoral joint cartilage stress in vivo. Medicine & Science in Sports and Exercise, 2005. (Download PDF)

Blemker and Delp. "Three-dimensional representation of complex muscle architectures and geometries." Annals of Biomedical Engineering, 2005. (Download PDF)

Asakawa, Blemker, Rab, Bagley, and Delp. "Three-dimensional muscle-tendon geometry after rectus femoris transfer." Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery, 2004. (Download PDF)

Arnold, Salinas, Asakawa, and Delp. "Accuracy of muscle moment arms estimated form MRI-based musculoskeletal models of the lower extremity." Computer-Assisted Surgery, 2000. (Download PDF)