5. Musculoskeletal modeling

To go further in analyzing the forces applied to joints, and in particular contact actions, more complete modeling is required. This information is essential for preventing degenerative disorders or for sizing joint prostheses. Indeed, the same joint movement, under the same external loading conditions, can be carried out in a number of different ways, in particular by very different stresses on the various muscles crossing the joint, inducing very different contact actions.

Direct measurement of muscle, ligament or joint contact forces is difficult to achieve. In addition, the inherent redundancy of the musculoskeletal system, comprising some 630 skeletal muscles to mobilize 244 degrees of freedom