Liang Ce, Marghoub Arsalan, Profico Antonio, Buzi Costantino, Didziokas Marius, van de Lande Lara, Khonsari Roman Hossein, Johnson David, O'Higgins Paul, Moazen Mehran
Department of Mechanical Engineering, University College London, London WC1E 7JE, UK.
Department of Biology, University of Pisa, 56126 Pisa, Italy.
iScience. 2024 Jul 29;27(9):110617. doi: 10.1016/j.isci.2024.110617. eCollection 2024 Sep 20.
Our fundamental understanding of the physico-mechanical forces that drive the size and shape changes of the cranium during ontogeny are limited. Biomechanical models based on finite element method present a huge opportunity to address this critical gap in our knowledge. Here, we describe a validated computational framework to predict normal craniofacial growth. Our results demonstrated that this approach is capable of predicting the growth of calvaria, face, and skull base. We highlighted the crucial role of skull base in antero-posterior growth of the face and also demonstrated the contribution of the maxillary expansion to the dorsoventral growth of the face and its interplay with the orbits. These findings highlight the importance of physical interactions of different components of the craniofacial system. The computational framework described here serves as a powerful tool to study fundamental questions in developmental biology and to advance treatment of conditions affecting the craniofacial system such as craniosynostosis.
我们对个体发育过程中驱动颅骨大小和形状变化的物理机械力的基本理解有限。基于有限元方法的生物力学模型为填补我们在这方面知识的关键空白提供了巨大机遇。在此，我们描述了一个经过验证的计算框架来预测正常颅面生长。我们的结果表明，这种方法能够预测颅骨、面部和颅底的生长。我们强调了颅底在面部前后生长中的关键作用，还展示了上颌扩张对面部背腹生长的贡献及其与眼眶的相互作用。这些发现凸显了颅面系统不同组成部分物理相互作用的重要性。这里描述的计算框架是研究发育生物学基本问题以及推进对影响颅面系统的病症（如颅缝早闭）治疗的有力工具。
