New software release: Highlights of The AnyBody Modeling System v. 5.1
Computing contact forces between arbitrary surfaces is the key new feature included in the upcoming version 5.1. The surfaces are imported as STL files and as such they can take any form and be produced from general CAD data for your orthopedic device or product.

Combined with an enhanced solver for force-dependent kinematics(TM) - a feature included in the AnyBody Modeling System in version 5.0, AnyBody is now equipped to define and analyze detailed and advanced models of non-conforming joints such as the knee during activities of daily living.

The knee model which is being developed by Michael Skipper Andersen, Aalborg University was previously presented in a webcast (available for download and replay here). It's being currently being updated for demonstrating the use of the new contact modeling facilities, cf. the image enclosed.

V.5.1 also features the first possibility of hooking external code directly into the AnyBody simulation. This option allows AnyScript functions to be programmed as external C++ or Python code. The hook transfers function arguments to the external code and the resulting output back into the AnyScript expression from which the function was called. Hooking into the AnyBody has numerous potential applications, for instance it allows the user to program advanced force functions for calculating applied forces to the model.

Version 5.1 of AnyBody Modeling System is planned for release in August this year. Notice that Head of AnyBody Technology R&D Michael Damsgaard, PhD, will be giving a webcast overview of v. 5.1 on June 22 which will be followed up by two webcasts in September by Prof. John Rasmusen going into more details with the above mentioned features, cf. the webcast announcements below.

AnyBody seminar at the ISB2011 in Brussels July 6
Join us! Come meet our team and guest speakers from Simpleware and ANSYS.

It's Wednesday afternoon at 16:00 during the International Biomechanics Society conference in Brussels, Belgium. Read more here...

Finite element interface updates
Traditionally FE models of internal body structures such  as bones and joint implants have used simple adhoc boundary conditions which do not match the complex dynamic real-world in-vivo situation.

Unsatisfactory as this has been - especially for people investing a significant effort in creating sophisticated FE models - better data was also been very difficult to get hold off.

The new situation is that the AnyBody Modeling System provides exactly those dynamic physiogical load data illustrated by the yellow "spider web" load corresponding to AnyBody muscle and ligament pulls on the SIMULIA Abaqus FE-mesh. The figure below shows the new improved interface workflow to SIMULIA Abaqus. A new Abaqus lesson describing the interfacing in more detail has also been added to the general FE interfacing tutorial which can be found here.

Cooperation with the AnyBody Research Group
The AnyBody Research Group has frequent visitors working with musculoskeletal simulation. Recent guests include Mark Boocock, Sonia d’Souza, Tina Skytte and Florian Engstler.

Mark Boocock travelled a long distance from Auckland Institute of Technology and stayed in the research group for almost a month working on models of pathological gait and lifting operations. Mark’s group has collected an impressive set of experimental data and is keen to get a pipeline of data processing set up to process it into force estimations.

Sonia d’Souza from Daimler AG and the Technical University of Munich has been cooperating with the group for a couple of years on development of strength scaling methods taking especially gender and age into consideration. This is a hot topic because our ability to model the elderly is important in the quest to create products and environments suitable for the ageing population. The first publication from this work is listed below.

Tine Skytte is a biomedical engineer and newly employed research assistant at the gait lab at Hvidovre Hospital in Denmark. She will be responsible for streamlining the processing of gait data in the future. During her stay, Tina worked on setting up marker protocols and force platforms for her local laboratory.

Florian Engstler from the famous Institute of Ergonomics at the Technical University of Munich works with experimental registration of joint strengths and the interdependency between postures of adjacent joints expressed with so-called joint torque ellipsoids. Florian is attempting to add a computational dimension to the empirical data, and have the AnyBody model simultaneously compute and explain the interdependency between postures and strengths.

Webcasts

• 22 Jun: Preview of The AnyBody Modeling System version 5.1
  In this presentation we will be taking a look at the upcoming AnyBody Modeling System version 5.1 which is planned for release in August. One of the key new features is for analysis of non-conforming joints using the Force-Dependent Kinematics solver in combination with a surface contact model. But we also take a look at other new features of the AMS and the work we are doing on the modeling side.
  Speaker: Michael Damsgaard, PhD, Head of R&D, AnyBody Technology.
• 8 Sep: Modeling and analysis of non-conforming joints in AnyBody I
  In this webcast we take a top-down look at what can be accomplished with the new capabilities for modeling and analysis of non-conforming joints. One of the inventors of the AnyBody Modeling System, Prof. John Rasmussen, will demonstrate the new features using the example of a knee prosthesis.  We will be looking into force-dependent kinematics, which allows the system to determine local deformations in joints caused by the combination of external forces, muscle forces and reactions from ligaments and other passive structures. We also review the system’s new surface contact measures. Together, these facilities provide exciting new possibilities for analysis of the mechanics of complex joints, such as knees, shoulders, mandibular joints and spinal disks.
  Notice there will be a follow-up event to this webcast on Sep. 29.
  Speaker: Prof. John Rasmussen, The AnyBody Group, Aalborg University
• 29 Sep: Modeling and analysis of non-conforming joints in AnyBody II
  In this webcast we continue the September 8 presentation of non-conforming joint modeling. This presentation primarily takes the form of a bottom-up demo session of how the new facilities are actually used in a modeling process. We use simple examples to demonstrate the definition of contact conditions and force-dependent kinematics analyses.
  Speaker: Prof. John Rasmussen, The AnyBody Group, Aalborg University

A comprehensive library  of previously recorded webcast is available for download and replay here.

BONEZONE magazine cover image
BONEZONE, an Orthoworld magazine dealing with strategic sourcing for the orthopedic industry, is flashing an AnyBody model on the cover of their June 2011 issue.

US sales executive vacancy
AnyBody Technology continue to expand and we need more clever and outgoing people to join us now. Apply now to become our 1st full-time US based sales executive.

Meet two AnyBuddies: Amir A. Al-Munajjed and Tony Petrella
Amir, 32, from Germany, joined the AnyBody team in March 2011 as a Sr. Consultant. With his biomedical and orthopedic engineering background, he supports the AnyBody consulting team working mostly on projects involving joint replacements i.e. hip, knee, shoulder. Amir joined us from the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland & Trinity College after finishing his PhD in 2009. His research involved investigating implants for bone healing and fracture repair using biomechanical, biomaterial, computational, stem cell and animal studies. Amir finished his Diplom-Ingenieur in Regensburg and a Master of Science at the Technical University Munich analyzing orthopedic implants and biomaterials for musculoskeletal repair. Due to his academic achievements, Amir is also reviewer for several orthopedic journals. In his spare time, Amir likes many kinds of sports. He recently joined a basketball team in Aalborg, he likes running, cycling and hiking. He also likes traveling to VERY remote places like Easter Island, the Kingdom of Tonga. He is currently preparing a trip to Mt. Everest.

Tony Petrella is Assistant Professor of Bioengineering at the Colorado School of Mines in Golden, CO. He is also Director of the Mines Computational Biomechanics Group, which applies a variety of simulation methods to problems in musculoskeletal and orthopaedic biomechanics. Prior to joining Mines in 2006, he managed the computational biomechanics group at DePuy Orthopaedics where he oversaw development and application of computer simulation tools to support product design teams working on new medical devices for both joint replacement as well as fracture/trauma applications.
Tony now also works for AnyBody Technology as part-time Sr. Consultant to leverage business opportunities with the AnyBody Modeling System in the Orthopedic Industry. Away from the office, Tony spends time exploring the Rocky Mountains on foot, mountain bike, and snowboard. He is also an avid craftsman who enjoys building custom furniture and wooden boats.

Conferences: Meet AnyBody at...
29 Jun-1 Jul, ISB Technical group on Footwear Biomechanics, Tübingen, Germany

30 Jun-2 Jul, ISB Technical group on Computer Simulation in Biomechanics, Leuven, Belgium
As usual the AnyBody team will appear in strength at the computer simulation workshop preceeding the ISB main conference. Morten Lund who is working on the ever-important topic of model validation will present Comparing calculated and measured curves in validation of musculoskeletal models. Motion prediction which is another hot emerging topic is covered by John Rasmussen in Prediction of motion in musculoskeletal models and by Saeed Farahani in Prediction of the movement patterns for human squat jumping using the inverse-inverse dynamics technique. Finally, Michael Skipper Andersen will present Force-dependent kinematics: a new analysis method for non-conforming joints.

3-7 Jul, ISB2011, Brussels, Belgium
AnyBody Technology, a Gold sponsor of the ISB, will be exhibiting also at this years conference.
Visit our booth and have a chat with our team!
In addition, AnyBody Technology will also be hosting a seminar on musculoskeletal modeling during the ISB. It's on Wednesday July 6th, 16:00-17:30 in auditorium H, building OF, on the ULB - VUB Campus in Brussels – Etterbeek where the conference is held. Have a view of the agenda here.
Several abstracts involving AnyBody has been accepted for ISB2011. We are aware of the following:
Pavel Galibarov et al: On modelling the spine curvature dependent on muscular and external forces in multibody dynamics system (Abstract #1179)
Sylvain Carbes et al: A new multisegmental foot model and marker protocol for accurate simulation of the foot biomechanics during walking (Abstract #183)
Morten Lund et al: Functional scaling of musculoskeletal models (Abstract #512)
Kasper Sørensen et al: A biomechanical analysis of clear strokes in badminton executed by youth players of different skill levels (Abstract #625)
Michael Skipper Andersen, John Rasmussen: Total knee replacement musculoskeletal model using a novel simulation method for non-conforming joints (Abstract #343)
Andrew R Hopkins et al: Generation of subject specific shoulder kinematics models from motion capture data and AnyBody simulation (Abstract #1021)

26-27 Aug, Symposium on Numerical Simulation in Orthopaedic Biomechanics, Rostock, Germany
Michael Skipper Andersen will give a keynote presentation entitled A novel musculoskeletal modelling approach for non-conforming joints.

29 Aug-2 Sep: SpineFX Computational Biomechanics Workshop, Vienna, Austria
Application details, leaflet of the event and application form (course flyer) can be found here.
Notice this event includes a seminar by Prof. John Rasmussen on musculoskeletal modeling in AnyBody.

7-9 Sep: FDA/NHLBI/NSF workshop on computer methods for medical devices, Silver Spring, MD

14 Sep: ANSYS Regional Conference, Boston, MA

Publications
If you have recent publications using AnyBody which you would like to have listed here, please let us know.

Alan Chu and Richard Hughes from the Department of Orthopaedic, Surgery, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, has developed a mathematical method for testing musculoskeletal model loadability. Their tool can be used during model development to quickly verify appropriate anatomical functionality. It also provides a useful tool to confirm that a model is able to resist a range of external forces which they demonstrate using an AnyBody shoulder model:
Chu, A and Hughes, R E (2010) 'A method to determine whether a musculoskeletal model can
resist arbitrary external loadings within a prescribed range', Computer Methods in Biomechanics and Biomedical Engineering, 13: 6, 795 — 802

Peter Worsley, Maria Stokes, and Mark Taylor at University of Southampton, UK, ran 20 healthy older subjects using motion capture data and inverse dynamic AnyBody musculoskeletal models during gait, sit–stand–sit, and step–descent. One important finding was the variability found across the subjects in all of the activities for both kinematics and kinetics:
Worsley, P, Stokes, M, Taylor, M (2011), 'Predicted knee kinematics and kinetics during functional activities using motion capture and musculoskeletal modelling in healthy older people', Gait & Posture 33, 268–273

Paul Taylor at Dept. of Orthopaedic Surgery, Fremantle Hospital, Australia, and co-workers look at the optimal plate location and fixation method for midshaft fractures of the clavicle which remains undetermined. They develop a realistic biomechanical model with which to compare superior with inferior-medial plate placement, and the failure resistance of locked and against non-locked constructs:
Taylor, PRR, Day, RE, Nicholls, RL, Rasmussen, J, Yates, PJ, Stoffel, KK (2011), 'The comminuted midshaft clavicle fracture: A biomechanical evaluation of plating methods', Clinical Biomechanics 26, 491-496.

Ben Gadomski at Colorado State University and co-workers compare results from an AnyBody model with current in vitro practices for spine research involving pure moments and compressive follower loads for flexion, extension, lateral bending, and axial rotation. Encouraging for our trade, inclusion of muscles is important to obtain physiological loads and the AnyBody model most closely predicted in vivo intradiscal pressures:
Gadomski, B, Rasmussen, J & Puttlitz, CM 2011, 'Implementation of Physiological Muscle Loading in a Finite Element Model of the Human Lumbar Spine', Transactions of the 57th annual meeting of the Orthopaedic Reasearch Society.

Karl Siebertz and Jessica Rausch at Ford Research Center Aachen, Germany, present a detailed, validated AnyBody model for comfort evaluation:
Siebertz, K and Rausch, J (2008), 'The AnyBody Car Driver Model, A CAE tool to evaluate comfort', Fisita 2008 - World Automotive Congress, 14-19 Sep, Munich, Germany (Abstract)    Click and Buy full paper download

Sonia d'Souza from Daimler AG and coworkers are developing methods for age and gender based strength scaling of models. The first results from this work is presented here:
d'Souza, S, Brückner, B & Rasmussen, J (2011,) 'Development of age and gender based strength scaled equations for use in simulation models', Proceedings of the First International Symposium on Digital Human Modeling. June 14-16, Lyon, France.

Motomu Nakashima and Taku Komura from Tokyo Inst. of Technology developed and validated an AnyBody model of a pregnant wowan and used it for investigating in muscle forces for standing, flexion-extension, and seating:
Nakashima, M and Komura, T (2010), 'An analysis of Muscle Load on the Erector Spinae of a Pregnant Woman', Journal of Biomechanical Science and Engineering 5, 357-367

Anders Sandholm from École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Switzerlandand and coworkers shows that a a geometry-based knee joint (developed in AnyBody) predicts muscle activation and joint reaction forces for gait better than a planar knee joint (developed in another system):
Sandholm, A et al (2011), 'Evaluation of a geometry-based knee joint compated to a planar knee joint', Visual Computer 27, 161-171.

Maxine Kwan who received her PhD supervised by John Rasmussen last year has summarized some of her thesis work on badminton here:
M. Kwan, J. Rasmussen (2011), 'Linking Badminton Racket Design and Performance through Motion Capture', CAME - Computer Aided Medical Engineering 2, 13-18

In this overview article looking at several different types of models Marc Horner from ANSYS, Inc, discuss lumped parameter models versus geometrically accurate models. As a musculoskeletal example of the latter he uses a patient-specific workflow involving software from Materialise, AnyBody Technology, and ANSYS. The workflow features the extraction of a patient bone from medical scan data, the derivation of joint motions and loads from a walking cycle, and the application of this information to a femur and acetabular implant:
Horner, M (2011), 'Designing the Model Patient', Desktop Engineering, April 1, 2011

Several AnyBody-related papers were present at the recent annual meeting of the German Society of Biomechanics. From Hannover Medical School and TU Berlin, and Hannover Medical School and Otto Bock GmbH, respectively, they include:
Schwarze, M, Welke, B, Seehaus, F, Oehler, S, Hurscheler, C (2011), 'Validation of an inverse dynamic model: Loads at the prosthesis interface of above-knee amputees', DGfB, 19-21 May 2011, Murnau, Germany

and Schwarze, M, Welke, B, Seehaus, F, Schmaltz, T, Hurschel, C (2011), 'Stress Resultants in Proximal Femur of Transfemural Amputees During Different Cases of Falling: A Multi-Body Simulation', DGfB, 19-21 May 2011, Murnau, Germany