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By Serge Van Sint Jan - July 2000
Serge Van Sint Jan reports on the new source of data on human kinematics created by the IST project VAKHUM. The project aims to develop an interactive database for industrial, educational and research purposes. Users will access the database through a virtual interface and be able to download high-quality data for their own applications, or take a class on Functional Anatomy. The data collection procedure used to collect the above data must solve theoretical problems, which are currently being tackled by the consortium.
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The study of the Human Kinematics is an exciting field, and
many unknowns remain to be determined and explored.
Currently very little accurate data on Human Kinematics and Bone
morphology is readily available. Therefore both industrial and
fundamental researchers need reliable data for their own
applications. One of the main goals of the VAKHUM project is to
produce high-quality data according to a well-defined protocol,
and to make this data available to users. Full documentation
about the data's accuracy will also be available.
Kinematics is a typical 3D phenomenon yet textbooks can describe it only in a 2D way. Useful information is then lost for the students (pre- or -post- graduate). The VAKHUM project will use the above data to develop tutorials on Functional Anatomy. These tutorials will be integrated into a virtual reality environment accessible through the Internet.
The potential fields-of-application are numerous:
Morphological data of human bones is collected from medical imaging, mainly by computerised tomodensitometry (CT-Scan). The latter allows the construction of very accurate 3D bone models (Figure 1).
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| Figure 1: 3D Bone models of the iliac
bone. Left: surface models using tiling techniques. Right: finite elements model. |
Several kinds of data will be available from the VAKHUM database. Not only raw data, but also both surface and finite-element models will be included. Surface models are useful for, for example, 3D animations and/or education. Finite elements meshes are used to simulate the deformation and the mechanical stresses induced within living tissues by different motor tasks. They are essential in research, but also in clinical applications such as the evaluation of the risk of bone fracture, or the planning of complex musculo-skeletal surgery. Finite elements simulations are also useful to teach musculo-skeletal biomechanics.
VAKHUM will also perform a pilot study on muscle modelling for further research, which will serve to improve understanding of both muscle function and morphology (Figure 2).
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| Figure 2: 3D Models of the upper part of the lower limb, together with the surface model of the sartorius muscle. Anatomical axes are displayed to illustrate the muscle functions on both hip and knee joints. |
Kinematics is the study of motion. As part of the VAKHUM project, the motion of the human lower limb will be studied during several normal activities (walking, running, stair climbing). Several techniques can be used to study a motion, each of them having its own advantages and disadvantages. For example, electrogoniometry can collect very accurate kinematics data at joint level both in vivo and in vitro, further information about electrogoniometry can be found on the ULB Web site [1]. This data, associated to medical imaging, can bring new information on human kinematics (Figure 3). Unfortunately, electrogoniometry is difficult to use to study full-limb motion.
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| Figure 3: Joint kinematics. Left: hip joint during a motion of flexion; right: knee joint flexion. Helical axes of motion are displayed as well. |
Conversely, other systems like motion-capture-devices using stereophotogrammetry (e.g. video cameras) allows us to study the relative angular displacement of the joints of a particular limb by tracking skin markers attached to a volunteer or patient during some activities (Figure 4).
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| Figure 4. Left: anatomical calibration of skin markers for gait analysis. Right: kinematics analysis of stair climbing |
Therefore, combining both electrogoniometry and stereophotogrammetry to animate 3D models collected from medical imaging will result in several innovative features. Initially, once the theoretical details are taken care of, the new techniques will allow not only a combination of different data sources, but also a comparison of results obtained from different protocols, which currently poses an accuracy problem in biomechanics due to a lack in standardisation. Furthermore, the 3D models produced by VAKHUM will be fully documented and established according the available guidelines from the International Society of Biomechanics (ISB). This should be a guarantee that the VAKHUM data will be widely accepted.
We also expect that, thanks to the newly developed methodologies, that new knowledge on joint functions will be collected as well. This knowledge will be made directly available through tutorials.
Several partners within the consortium are responsible for the Anatomy classes in their respective institutions. VAKHUM will produce interactive tutorials from the data collected during the project. Different tutorials on Functional Anatomy will be written for both medical and bioengineering students. The new knowledge will also be attractive to post-graduate professionals for re-training. The tutorials will be downloadable from the database in several European languages.
One of the VAKHUM partners is involved in the numerical simulation of car-crash testing. This partner will exploit the data produced to integrate realistic virtual dummies into its virtual car. Constraints on the dummies will be then analysed to help to improve car safety (Figure 5). Another aspect to be prospected is the simulation of a collision between cars and virtual pedestrians.
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| Figure 5: Simulation of airbag effect on car passenger using the PAM-SAFE ® system. |
As demonstrated above, the field of research of the VAKHUM project is actually multidisciplinary. A variety of different skills and aptitudes are necessary to solve the numerous theoretical and practical problems that must be tackled by the consortium.
The Department of Human Anatomy and Embryology of ULB is mainly in charge of the project coordination, collecting and pre-processing the medical imaging data sets, collecting the kinematics data at joint level and developing the tutorials [1].
Istituti Ortopedici Rizzoli (IOR) - Italy
Two IOR departments are involved in VAKHUM. The Laboratorio di Tecnologia medica is responsible for the generation of finite element models of bone segments derived from the medical imaging data sets. The Laboratorio di Analisi del Movimento also collects data from stereo-photogrammetry (i.e. motion tracking devices using ultra-performant video systems) which will be combined with data from ULB. IOR is also involved in the tutorial writing [2].
Università degli Studi di Sassari (UNISS) - Italy
The Section of Physiology & Bioengineering of Man of the UNISS Department of Biomedical Sciences is in charge of solving the theoretical problems related to the combination of kinematics data from several origins. UNISS is also leading the tutorials writing [3].
De Montfort University (DMU) – United Kingdom.
The Computer Graphics and Modelling Group of the DMU Department of Computer & Information Sciences has vast experience in the modelling of humans in virtual environments. DMU's role is to develop the user interface, which allows a user to access the database created by the VAKHUM project through the Internet. This group will also investigate the dynamic modelling of muscles [4].
Libera Università "Campus Bio-Medico" Di Roma (UNICAMPUS) - Italy
UNICAMPUS Medical Informatics Laboratory integrates the expertise of both Faculty of Medicine and Faculty of Engineering (biomedical courses). For many years, it gained experience of streaming video technologies applied to medical imaging and Internet-based software. “Campus Bio-Medico” will be involved in the development of the VAKHUM tutorials [5].
Neurosoft S.A. (NS) - Greece
This company is charge of developing the structure of the 3D database, including raw data, 3D models, tutorials and virtual user interface [6].
Engineering Systems International S.A. (ESI) - France
This company will demonstrate the use of the data produced by VAKHUM by integrating it into its world-leading PAM-SAFE system for virtual car crash testing. One of the aims of ESI is to help improving the safety of car passengers [7].
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and
<http://www.ior.it.movlab/>
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Serge Van Sint Jan
Department of Anatomy
Faculty of Medicine
University of Brussels (ULB)
808 Lennik Street
1070 Brussels
Belgium
sintjans@ulb.ac.be
<http://www.ulb.ac.be/project/vakhum/>
Serge Van Sint Jan is employed at ULB. His responsibilities include both administrative and scientific coordination of the VAKHUM project and teaching human anatomy to medical students. His fields of interest are the use of medical imaging for educational and biomechanical purposes, data processing and virtual simulation of animated anatomical systems.
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For citation purposes:
Van Sint Jan, S. "The VAKHUM Project: Virtual Animation of the Kinematics of the Human", Cultivate Interactive, issue
2, 16 October 2000
URL: <http://www.cultivate-int.org/issue2/vakhum/>
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