Research Projects

Musculoskeletal disorders, such as osteoarthritis, pose a significant economic burden to the state and can lead to complications when implanted in Indians. To address this issue, a better understanding and replication of Indian biomechanics is crucial for testing surgical solutions like total knee arthroplasty (TKA). Physiological simulators can help quantify native joint biomechanics and alter them following pathology and surgery. However, these simulators often struggle to replicate large ranges of motion and combinational joint motions, which is essential for replicating Indian-specific motions like cross-legged sitting and kneeling. There is a significant need for improvement in the design, control, and application of physiological knee simulators, especially in the Indian context. This project aims to develop and implement an indigenous physiological knee simulator to understand and replicate Indian biomechanics. The development process will involve three aspects: mechanical, electrical, and computational. Mechanical development will involve designing, fabricating, and assembling the simulator and mock-up, using electromechanical actuators to replicate joint motion and muscle forces, and a variety of sensors to provide position and force feedback. Electrical development will involve setting up individual actuator and sensor systems and interfacing them through a single data acquisition system for real-time simulator control. The simulator will be used to replicate an Indian-specific motion, such as cross-legged sitting, as a proof of concept for orthopaedic research. Further novel applications of the simulator, such as cadaveric testing or orthopaedic training and education, will be identified in collaboration with the medical fraternity and the biomedical industry.