Biomechanics expert launches joint movement research study
[ UniNews Vol. 14, No. 4
21 March - 4 April 2005 ] by Elaine Mulcahy
Understanding why older people trip, what happens to the neck in whiplash, and how the design of knee and shoulder joint replacements can be improved, are among the goals of a new University of Melbourne biomechanics research program.
International biomechanics expert, Professor Marcus Pandy, who recently joined the University’s Department of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering, will spearhead an interdisciplinary research project aimed at developing improved diagnosis and treatment of musculoskeletal disorders.
Professor Pandy, formerly at the University of Texas at Austin, says the main focus of the research is to develop computerised models of the human skeleton and muscles from medical image data and movement analysis.
Funded by a five-year Victorian Endowment for Science, Knowledge and Innovation (VESKI) fellowship, he says that current systems for examining forces and movement in the knee, for example, are not fine enough.
“Sub-millimetre accuracy is needed to fully appreciate the interactions between bones, ligaments, tendons and muscle around the knee joint. The models that we are developing will provide us with this accuracy and a new, non-invasive way to evaluate muscle, ligament and joint-function in the body,” he says.
“This in turn will help us to understand the nature of joint injuries and conditions like osteoarthritis, where the protective cartilage around connecting joints wastes away.”
“Also, by looking at how much force exists between joint bones normally, or the mechanical environment of bones in normal situations, the hope is that one day this knowledge could be used to improve the design of total knee replacements and design better tissue-engineered constructs for cartilage replacement.”
Professor Pandy, with colleagues at the Royal Children’s Hospital, Kingston Centre and La Trobe University, was also recently awarded funding by the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) worth $2 million over five years for the Centre for Clinical Research Excellence in Gait Analysis and Rehabilitation.
Research at the Centre will involve an analysis of the way we walk when we’re young and when we’re old to find out why it is that old people tend to lose their balance more easily and suffer falls.
“Falls represent an important health problem for the ageing population and a better understanding is needed of age-related changes in stability and coordination of movement so that we are better prepared for treatment,” Professor Pandy says.
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