Modeling the biomechanics of fetal movements
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Published version
Accepted version
Author(s)
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Fetal movements in the uterus are a natural part of development, and are known to play an important role in normal musculoskeletal development. However, very little is known about the biomechanical stimuli that arise during movements in utero, despite these stimuli being crucial to normal bone and joint formation. Therefore the objective of this study is to create a series of computational steps by which the forces generated during a kick in utero could be predicted from clinically observed fetal movements using novel cine-MRI data of three fetuses, aged 20-22 weeks. A custom tracking software was designed to characterise the movements of joints in utero, and average uterus deflection of 6.95 ± 0.41 mm due to kicking was calculated. These observed displacements provided boundary conditions for a finite element model of the uterine environment, predicting an average reaction force of 0.52 ± 0.15 N generated by a kick against the uterine wall. Finally, these data were applied as inputs for a musculoskeletal model of a fetal kick, resulting in predicted maximum forces in the muscles surrounding the hip joint of approximately 8 N, while higher maximum forces of approximately 21 N were predicted for the muscles surrounding the knee joint. This study provides a novel insight into the closed mechanical environment of the uterus, with an innovative method allowing elucidation of the biomechanical interaction of the developing fetus with its surroundings.
Date Issued
2015-11-03
Date Acceptance
2015-10-07
Citation
Biomechanics and Modeling in Mechanobiology, 2015, 15 (4), pp.995-1004
ISSN
1617-7959
Publisher
Springer Verlag (Germany)
Start Page
995
End Page
1004
Journal / Book Title
Biomechanics and Modeling in Mechanobiology
Volume
15
Issue
4
Copyright Statement
© The Author(s) 2015. This article is published with open access at Springerlink.com
License URL
Sponsor
Arthritis Research UK
Grant Number
20683
Subjects
Cine MRI
Computational model
Developmental dysplasia of the hip
Joint biomechanics
Musculoskeletal development
Biomedical Engineering
0913 Mechanical Engineering
0903 Biomedical Engineering
Publication Status
Published