Orthopaedic Biomechanics

Course content

The course is organized into the following modules:

The Musculoskeletal System – Anatomy and function of the main structures of the human body.
Loads and Motion in the Musculoskeletal System – Static and dynamic analysis; joint stability; kinematics and motion analysis.
Tissue Mechanics – Biomechanics of bone and soft tissues; material models; measurement and modeling of tissue properties.
Functional Adaptation of the Skeleton – Theories and models of bone remodeling.
Structural Analysis of Musculoskeletal Systems – Methods and applications.
Joint Biomechanics – Biomechanics of the major human joints (hip, knee, spine, ankle, etc.).
Musculoskeletal Modeling – Development of musculoskeletal models; introduction to patient-specific modeling.

Objectives (and/or specific learning outcomes)

Course Objectives

To provide fundamental knowledge on the mechanical and structural aspects of the skeletal system.
To introduce how the laws of physics and mechanics can explain the structure and function of the human and animal body.
To enable students to apply biomechanical principles in the analysis of human daily activities.
To familiarize students with experimental and computational methods used in orthopaedic biomechanics.

Learning Outcomes

At the end of the course, the student will be able to:

Understand the relationship between mechanics and the structural/functional organization of the musculoskeletal system.
Apply principles of physics to solve problems related to human movement and daily activities.
Plan, conduct, and analyze results of simple biomechanics experiments.
Use engineering tools (hardware and software) to address problems in biomechanics.

Prerequisites and Corequisites

Required and Corequired knowledge and skills

Teaching methods and learning activities

36h lectures and 12h exercises

References, bibliography, and recommended reading

Human Orthopaedic Biomechanics: Fundamentals Device and Applications.

Innocenti, Galbusera. Academic Press, Elsevier, 2022.

Contribution to the teaching profile

This teaching unit contributes to the development of the following competences:

Ability to model and simulate complex physical systems in the field of biomedical engineering.
Ability to identify appropriate hypotheses, inputs, and outputs for simple biomechanical models, in order to analyze and solve complex biomechanical problems.
Ability to understand, measure, and verify the main physical quantities related to living subjects (both morphological and functional).
Ability to translate the behavior of living subjects and the language of clinicians into the language of engineers.
Ability to assess the influence of key parameters (e.g., materials, shape, stiffness) on the performance of biomechanical models.
Ability to define, describe, explain, and interpret common biomechanical models.
Ability to communicate effectively in English within the field of biomedical engineering.

Other information

Contacts

Prof. Bernardo Innocenti, PhD

BEAMS Department (Bio Electro and Mechanical Systems)

Local: UB3-169 - Campus Solbosch

e-mail: bernardo.innocenti@ulb.be

Campus

Solbosch

Evaluation

Method(s) of evaluation

written examination
Oral examination

written examination

Oral examination

Examination modalities

Written examination (Exercise)
Written examination (Theory-QCM)
Oral examination (only if the written exams are passed with sufficient marks)

Conditions to access the oral exam:

A minimum mark of >10/20 in the Exercise exam.
A minimum mark of >15/20 in the Theory exam.

The oral exam will consist of questions on the analytical and descriptive parts of the course.

Additional rules:

Any sufficient mark obtained in the written exams (Exercise or Theory) can be retained for the following exam sessions.
Students who wish to improve their grade may retake the written Exercise exam.

Mark calculation method (including weighting of intermediary marks)

Average among the following final marks:

-Written Exercise;
-Oral Theory.

Language(s) of evaluation

english