Predicting longitudinal changes in joint contact forces in a juvenile population: scaled generic versus subject-specific musculoskeletal models

Abstract

Subject-specific musculoskeletal model use in clinical settings is limited due to development-associated time and effort burdens together with potential medical imaging unavailability. As an alternative, this study investigated consistency in estimating longitudinal changes in joint contact forces (JCF) between scaled generic and subject-specific models. For 11 children, joint kinematics and JCF were calculated using subject-specific and scaled generic models. JCF changes estimated by both models were strongly correlated for the hip and knee although JCF estimates varied between models. Findings suggest that within specified limits of accuracy, scaled generic models are sensitive enough to detect JCF changes consistent with subject-specific models.

Keywords:

• Biomechanics
• musculoskeletal modelling
• gait analysis
• lower-limb
• OpenSim
• MRI

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Acknowledgement

Claude Fiifi Hayford is a Commonwealth Scholar, funded by the UK government.

Additional information

Funding

This research was supported by the European Commission under Grant MD-PAEDIGREE FP7 (p. no. 600932); the NIHR Sheffield Biomedical Research Centre (BRC) under Grant (p. no. IS-BRC-1215-20017); and the UK-EPSRC under Grant Multisim (p. no. EP/K03877X/1 & EP/SO32940/1).