Biomechanics

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SIMBIOsys main research lines

  • Develop computational models of anatomy, physiology, pathology and therapy (pharmacological and/or surgical).

Principal aims include the development of compact biomechanical and pathophysiological models, their characterisation in terms of predictive properties and associated uncertainty, and how to integrate different anatomical and functional scales towards a complete virtual patient model. The deployment of such models, in collaboration with leading industries and medical experts, will have immense societal and economic impact, in terms of disease prevention and how patients interact with the health system.

  • Establish new algorithms for multi-modality image registration and fusion, in order to combine information from different imaging modality and/or different time points.

This allows the study of disease progression, as well as unravelling the fundamental metabolic processes that underlie the appearance of lesions, tumours and other pathologies in medical images. In particular, on-going research lines include multi-scale models for vectorial deformation fields, based on structural models of images, compact representations (e.g. wavelets) and diffeomorphic transformations.

Applications

Particular applications to be targeted, highly related to our previous and existing research lines include:

  • Orthopaedics (implant design and virtual testing, computer-assisted interventions, and tissue engineering)
  • Cochlear implants (computational modelling of fluid dynamics, mechanical effects and electric stimulation, in order to optimise implant designs).
  • Cardiovascular disease (heart failure and arrhythmias)
  • Brain (neuropathological and mental diseases, as well as brain development processes in the foetus and neonates).

Network collaborations

We have strong local and international  academic, clinical and industrial contacts to promote these research lines.