At the Orthopaedic Research Lab, Finite Element Analysis (FEA) is used to investigate the mechanical consequences of orthopaedic interventions. FEA allows us to investigate how forces are transferred through an implant to the host bone, and how the human body adapts to placement of a total joint replacement. FEA is also used to evaluate the performance of orthopaedic implants, and to judge the strength of bone in case of metastatic lesions.

Musculoskeletal modeling is used to simulate the motion of human joints (joint kinematics), and how forces are transferred through the joint (joint kinetics). Musculoskeletal models are composed of rigid bodies representing the human skeleton, actuators representing the muscles, springs representing the joint ligaments, and contact surfaces representing the joints.

Together with Aalborg University and Twente University, the Orthopaedic Research Lab has developed an award-winning musculoskeletal model of the knee joint implanted with a total knee replacement prosthesis.