Details
- Title: Integrating Bone and Joint Geometry into Musculoskeletal Models
- Speakers: Allison Clouthier, PhD, University of Ottawa and Erin Lee, PhD, University of Waterloo
- Time: Wednesday, October 29th, 2025 at 9:00 AM Pacific Time
This event has passed. View the recorded talk and additional resources below.
Abstract
Bone and joint geometry vary widely among people, and certain shape features are associated with injury risk and disease severity. However, associations alone cannot help clinicians decide whether or how they should account for individual bone shape in their treatment plan. In this webinar, Dr. Clouthier and Dr. Lee will discuss how musculoskeletal models that account for joint variation can provide insight into the shape-function relationships and help explain why certain features increase a person’s risk of injury.
In the first part of the webinar, Dr. Lee will provide an overview of statistical shape modelling and present broad approaches for integrating geometry into musculoskeletal models. Dr. Clouthier will then show how variations in knee geometry alter joint kinematics, contact force, and contact pressure in walking.
In the second part of the webinar, Dr. Clouthier will lead a tutorial for mapping soft tissue attachment sites across bone shapes generated from a statistical shape model. Through an interactive Google Colab notebook, attendees will learn how to 1) interpret an existing statistical shape model, and 2) transfer soft tissue attachment sites across theoretical bone shapes for input into a musculoskeletal model.
Clouthier AL, Smith CR, Vignos MF, Thelen DG, Deluzio KJ, and Rainbow MJ (2019). The effect of articular geometry features identified using statistical shape modelling on knee biomechanics. Medical Engineering & Physics. doi:10.1016/j.medengphy.2019.02.009
This webinar is offered jointly with the Restore Center, an NIH-funded Medical Rehabilitation Research Resource Network Center at Stanford University.
Our Speakers
Allison Clouthier
Assistant Professor
Dr. Allison Clouthier is an Assistant Professor in the School of Human Kinetics at the University of Ottawa. Her research is focused on understanding how patient-specific factors contribute to the risk of musculoskeletal pathology and the success of treatment. She is interested in measuring and simulating knee joint biomechanics, to investigate how characteristics such as joint geometry can affect function and contribute to pathology.
Erin Lee
Postdoctoral Fellow
Dr. Erin Lee is a Postdoctoral Fellow in Kinesiology and Health Sciences at the University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada. She completed her PhD in Mechanical Engineering at Queen’s University, where she examined the relationship between shape and function in the shoulder with implications for rotator cuff tear risk. Her CIHR-funded postdoctoral research investigates the interactions among bone shape, cartilage quality, and joint loading in the progression of knee osteoarthritis.
