CMBBE '99 - Computer Methods in
Biomechanics and Biomedical Engineering
(Gordon and Breach Science Publishers)
A Case Study on Human Upper Limb
Modelling for Dynamic Simulation

W. Maurel, D. Thalmann

Computer Graphics Lab
Swiss Federal Institute of Technology
DI-LIG, EPFL, CH-1015 Lausanne, Switzerland
Contact: maurel,thalmann
(Vol. 2, No. 1, pp. 65-82, 1999) Download Paper (~2Mb)

Keywords. upper limb, shoulder, musculoskeletal modelling, dynamic simulation, Visible Human

Abstract

Modelling consists of developing a representation of the properties of an object or a phenomenon with respect to the goals of its analysis. In general, biomechanical investigations are based on idealized physical representations of the musculoskeletal systems, for which assumptions are done a priori and left to future validation. The reflection which leads to these assumptions is rarely detailed. In this paper, the procedure presented is that followed in the CHARM project, for human upper limb modelling with respect to project constraints on model implementation and simulation. In our approach, we have dealt with the compromise between accuracy and simplicity, for preserving the biomechanical validity, as well as the feasibility of the project. The developments in CHARM have been planed as shown in figure 1.


Fig. 1 CHARM Simulation Synopsis

Our upper limb model possesses 10 DOF:

shoulder: 5

arm: 3

forearm: 2

obtained by the combination of 6 joints involving a total of 13 parameters:

SC: 3

AC: 3

ST: 2

GH: 3

UH: 1

UR: 1

and three relations between the ST, SC and AC joint parameters.


Fig. 2 Qualitative Model of Human Upper Limb Skeleton

On the basis of these definitions, an object-oriented data structure, featuring the anatomical components as classes has been developed to allow the storage of topological and mechanical properties of the model. A topological modelling interface has also been developed to allow the 3D visualization and interactive editing of the mechanical properties of the model. It has been used for fitting structural, topological and mechanical information onto the 3D left human arm model, which has been reconstructed from the Visible Human Imaging Dataset provided by the U.S. National Library of Medicine. The resulting topological model is shown in figure 3, and described in a previous reference (W. Maurel et al. (1996) - EGCAS96 - "A Biomechanical Musculoskeletal Model of Human Upper Limb for Dynamic Simulation").

a) b) c)

Fig. 3. The topological model: a) rigid body model b) kinematic model c) muscle action topology

Related Links:

  • CHARM: A Comprehensive Human Animation Resource Model
    (EC ESPRIT Project 9036)

  • VHP: The Visible Human Project
    (U.S. National Library of Medicine)

  • Biomechanical and Topological Modeling of the Human Upper Limb Joints, Muscles and Soft Tissues
    (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology of Lausanne)

    • Related Publications

    © Maurel/LIG/EPFL 1998 - Last modified: Thu Mar 5 10:28:58 MDT 1998