Human Articular Movement Algorithm to Simulate Muscle Contraction and Embedded Tissue Deformation

Abstract

The visualization of human articular movements associated with internal deformation is critical for many fields including biome- chanics. In this work, we present a novel algorithm to describe realistic articular movement in a human model, which effectiv- elly combines free-form deformation and simple constrained de- formation. The algorithm provides the articular movement with contractions/extensions in muscles followed by the deformations of embedded tissues, such as blood vessels, lymphatics, and nerves, treating the bones as a rigid body. An arm bending simulation of a human model using the algorithm was performed. The proposed algorithm has the potential for development as a hybrid method that combines multi-physical simulations and geometric modeling. the continuous articular movement associated with the deforma- tion of each part is difficult. In particular, the shapes of embed- ded tissues in human limbs, such as blood vessels, lymphatics, and nerves, change due to muscle deformations during skeletal mo- tions. Simulating human articular movement considering such in- ner structures could provide important knowledge for biomechani- cal applications. Our final goal is to provide a plausible virtual hu- man model to represent multi-physical properties by integrating geometric modeling and physical simulation. Here, we propose an algorithm to visually represent human articular movement, com- bining free-form deformation (FFD) [Sederberg and Parry 1986] and simple constrained deformation (Scodef) [Borrel and Rappoport 1994] effectively. One of the contributions of this study is to provide the methodical idea on the representation of muscle-driven deforma- tion of internal tissues that occurs in actual body.