Benham M P, Wright D K, Bibb R
Department of Design, Brunel University, Surrey, TW20 0JZ, U.K.
Biomed Sci Instrum. 2001;37:111-6.
Traditionally biomechanical models represent the musculoskeletal system by a series of rigid links connected by rigidly defined rotational joints. More recently though the mechanics of joints and the action of soft tissues has come under closer scrutiny: biomechanical models might now include a full range of physiological structures. However, soft tissue representation, within multi-segment human body models, presents significant problems; not least in computational speed. We present a method for representing soft tissue physiology which provides for soft tissue wrapping around multiple bony objects; while showing forces at the insertion points, as well as normal reactions due to contact between the soft and bony tissues. These soft tissue representations may therefore be used to constrain the joint, as ligaments would, or to generate motion, like a muscle, so that joints may be modelled which more accurately simulate musculoskeletal motion in all degrees of freedom--rotational and translational. This method produces soft tissues that do not need to be tied to a certain path or route between the bony structures, but may move with the motion of the model; demonstrating a more realistic analysis of soft tissue activity in the musculoskeletal system. The combination of solid geometry models of the skeletal structure, and these novel soft tissue representations, may also provide a useful approach to synthesised human motion.
传统上，生物力学模型通过一系列由严格定义的旋转关节连接的刚性连杆来表示肌肉骨骼系统。然而，近年来，关节力学和软组织的作用受到了更密切的审视：生物力学模型现在可能包括各种生理结构。然而，在多节段人体模型中，软组织的表示存在重大问题；尤其是在计算速度方面。我们提出了一种表示软组织生理学的方法，该方法允许软组织包裹多个骨质物体；同时显示插入点处的力以及软组织与骨质组织之间接触产生的法向反力。因此，这些软组织表示可用于像韧带那样约束关节，或像肌肉那样产生运动，从而可以对关节进行建模，更准确地模拟肌肉骨骼在所有自由度（旋转和平移）上的运动。这种方法产生的软组织不需要绑定到骨质结构之间的特定路径或路线，而是可以随着模型的运动而移动；展示了对肌肉骨骼系统中软组织活动更真实的分析。骨骼结构的实体几何模型与这些新颖的软组织表示相结合，也可能为合成人体运动提供一种有用的方法。
