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Computational Models of the Foot and Ankle for Pathomechanics and Clinical Applications: A Review

  • Computational Biomechanics for Patient-Specific Applications
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Abstract

Complementary to experimental studies, computational biomechanics has become useful tool for the understanding of human foot biomechanics and pathomechanics. Its findings have been widely used for the evaluation of the effectiveness of surgical and conservative interventions. These models, however, were developed with a wide range of variations in terms of simplifications and assumptions on the representation of geometrical structures and material properties, as well as boundary and loading conditions. These variations may create differences in prediction accuracy, and restrict practical and clinical applications. This paper reviews the state-of-the-art technologies and challenges in computational model development, focusing on foot problem-specific models for the assessment of the effectiveness and accessibility of clinical treatments. The computational models have provided valuable biomechanical information for clinical applications but further investigations come with many challenges in terms of detailed and patient-specific models, accurate representations of tissue properties, and boundary and loading conditions. Multi-scale computational models are expected to be an efficient platform to fully address the biomechanical and biological concerns.

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Acknowledgments

This project was supported by Hong Kong Research Grant Council GRF (PolyU5326/11E, PolyU152216/14E) and NSFC (11272273, 11120101001).

Conflict of Interest

None of the authors will be benefited from any commercial group with this work, nor was there any financial support received or will be received by any of the authors for publication of this article.

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  1. Interdisciplinary Division of Biomedical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom, KLN, Hong Kong SAR, China

    Yan Wang, Duo Wai-Chi Wong & Ming Zhang

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  1. Yan Wang
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  2. Duo Wai-Chi Wong
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Correspondence to Ming Zhang.

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Associate Editor Karol Miller oversaw the review of this article.

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Wang, Y., Wong, D.WC. & Zhang, M. Computational Models of the Foot and Ankle for Pathomechanics and Clinical Applications: A Review. Ann Biomed Eng 44, 213–221 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10439-015-1359-7

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