Dental Biomechanics

C.P. Bourauel; Ludger Keilig

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Dental biomechanics covers a wide range of loading conditions, starting from the functional loading during mastication, force application during orthodontic treatment to pathological loading during habits like clenching or grinding or even traumatic events. Additionally there is a large range of materials involved - hard tissue (like bone or teeth), soft tissues like the gingiva or the periodontal ligament with its complex structure, the temporomandibular joint, as well as the different materials that are introduced into the dental structures during restorative dental treatment or prosthodontics.

This mini-symposium offers a platform to present and discuss current aspects of dental biomechanics like (but not limited to)

• dedicated material models for the involved biological or
restorative materials,

• experimental determination of material properties of the
involved material in vitro or in vivo for the validation of such
material models,

• influence of (novel) material or design choices for
biomechanical behaviour of prosthodontic restorations, and

• application of bone modelling algorithms for orthodontic tooth
movement and for bone remodelling during implant treatment.

Bridging new Medical device technology towards the patiënt

P. Verdonck

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The overall aim of medical devices is to provide better treatment options or a better quality of life for the patient, and eventually to save lives. The absolute necessity of integrated thinking and a permanent dialogue between government, industry and hospitals while putting the patient centre stage. For researchers in this field, it means that they should be familiar with the complex valorisation process of a medical device and understand the functioning of health economics, cost efficiency and the creation of added value with new medical high-tech. For the government, it means that the many existing information channelsand financial resources should be communicated through one unique platform: the MedTech platform. The start-up SMEs active in Medical Technology (MedTech) all need eight policy lines:
1. Internal networking and visibility
2. Sharing heavy equipment and infrastructure
3. Knowledge of quality assurance and systems
4. Human Resources
5. Creation of hospital ecosystems for data collection and standardized patient data streams
6. Integration of refunding systems to penetrate domestic markets
7. Access to seed capital specifically for MedTech
8. Marketing / Business Coaching
All contributions streamlining these objectives are welcome.

Growth and Remodelling

C. W. J. Oomens; Sandra Loerakker; Michael Sachs 

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Tissue growth and remodeling are of paramount importance in many physiological and pathophysiological processes. Yet, the responsible mechanisms are only poorly understood. The fields of tissue engineering and regenerative medicine strongly rely on the intrinsic capacity of living tissues to grow and adapt in response to physical and chemical cues, in order to restore, maintain, or improve the functionality of living tissues and organs. It is evident that a fundamental understanding of the underlying growth and remodeling mechanisms is critical for the success of both fields and ensuring the safety and robustness of newly developed technologies in these areas. Due to the complexity of the processes involved, computational modeling plays a pivotal role in obtaining a mechanistic understanding of the interplay between mechanics and tissue adaptation.

This mini-symposium welcomes researchers to present and discuss experimental as well as computational aspects of growth and remodeling in biological tissues. This includes (but is not limited to):

Testing methods to explore the underlying mechanisms of growth and remodeling.

Computational tools to include growth and remodeling laws in the simulations on biological structures

Simulation of clinical problems involving growth and remodeling

New Mathematical Trends in Medical Imaging

Fiorella Sgallari; Alessandro Lanza; Serena Morigi

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The aim of this minisymposium is to bring together researchers in various aspects of mathematical image processing to share the latest developments in this field and to leverage the synergy between accademic research and real applicative interests in image processing. The minisymposium will cover two parts: the first is dedicated to mathematical developments in imaging focusing on variational models and emerging related optimization techniques; the second part is devoted to investigate several aspects of imaging science ranging from hardware design to image enhancement, from image representation to image understanding, from the point of view of experts working in the field. Variational models are getting popular for image processing and other imaging problems including inverse problems, image reconstruction and computer vision. The search for fast and robust algorithms to solve variational models, however, is an open challenge to the mathematical community due to complexity involved with: nonlinearity, non-smoothness of functional and solutions, non-convexity for the minimization, high-order derivatives within the functional, and large data size. Both the use of advanced optimization techniques and the development of new techniques are of fundamental importance for the success of elaborations in different imaging applications. This motivates this proposal to bring researchers from industrial and mathematical community to exchange and stimulate ideas in imaging sciences, to combine deep theoretical contributions with very relevant emerging practical applications.

Modeling and simulations for describing mechanisms of action and determining efficacy of medical technologies and processes

Amit Gefen; Alon Wolf

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Computational modeling and simulations of the function of medical technologies and processes facilitate scientific research work where direct experimentation does not exist, is not feasible timewise or budget-wise, or is unethical. Adequate modeling allows to establish greater confidence in innovative medical technologies and products, especially if such are not yet thoroughly evaluated by means of randomized clinical trials, which may be too expensive or take too long to accomplish for technologies that are at an early phase of implementation. Additionally, modeling of the function of medical devices or processes can minimize reliance on animal experiments. These benefits speed up innovation by not only explaining mechanisms of action of new technologies, processes and products but also, by paving the way to a next generation of such devices, processes and equipment. Governmental regulatory bodies around the world, including for example the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the USA, are now requiring modeling and simulation work as standard practice in the process of submission of new technologies and products for evaluation and approval, which reflects understanding that there needs to be a balance between the number of patients necessary to evaluate diagnosis and treatment efficacies and the feasible investments that can be made by industry to push a technology or a process into the market for use by patients and medical practitioners. Furthermore, such regulatory bodies and the industry themselves are clearly moving towards relying on other scientific data sources, particularly computational models. This trend is clearly felt in fields where modeling was historically rather poorly adapted, such as cancer and wound prevention and care, where changes are taking place rapidly to adopt modeling of existing and new technologies and processes as a standard industry practice.

Combining Multibody and Finite Element Models for Anatomical Simulation

Sidney Fels; John Lloyd

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Models of anatomical structures commonly employ either a coarse grained approach using a multibody platform (e.g., OpenSim, AnyBody Adams) to combine rigid bodies, joints, and line-based muscles for simulating large scale motion and force behaviors, or a fine grained approach using a finite element (FEM) platform (e.g., FEBio, OpenCIMSS, ANSYS, Abaqus) to simulate deformation and stresses within the structure itself. In practice, it is often useful to combine these approaches: for example, one may employ an FEM model close to the area of interest while using a more computationally efficient multibody model of more distant structures to provide loads and gross motions.
Combined simulation can be effected using a system that supports both (e.g., ArtiSynth), or by connecting systems with an appropriate workflow.
This special session will provide a venue for discussing work related to combined multibody/FEM modeling, including (but not limited to):
* specific applications that have benefited from such an approach;
* technical and algorithmic challenges;
* software environments and workflows to facilitate combined simulation. Attendees who have encountered limitations with either 100% multibody or 100% FEM modeling will have an opportunity to consider how a hybrid approach might enhance their own research.

Non-invasive imaging of scoliosis 

Wafa Skalli; Claudio Vergari; Laurent Gajny

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Scoliosis is a complex three-dimensional deformity of the spine, including the spine and the ribcage. This pathology, that mostly affects adolescents, can be progressive and lead to respiratory or locomotor impairment and, more in general, to a decreased quality of life. Multiple medical imaging based examinations are usually required to characterize the pathology, plan its treatment or surgery and follow up its progression, which can be monitored for several years. Conventional radiography is the most common mean of imaging but its ionizing radiation is rightly an important concern to the adolescent population and their families. Although low-dose biplanar X-rays have partially solved this issue, the ALARP principle (“As Low As Reasonably Practicable”) guides us toward non-invasive or mini-invasive imaging techniques in scoliosis research. In this mini-symposium, we want to highlight new trends and research in non-invasive medical imaging in order to assess patient-specific scoliosis characteristics.

Functional Performance of Joint Arthroplasty

Richard M. Hall; Anthony Redmond

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The goal of this session is to provide an overview of the performance of joint implants, in arthroplasty applications, employing multi-scale computational modelling. The session provides for a diverse set of modelling systems including (1) biomechanical models of the articulating joint systems, and (2) surface wear models to assess implant performance. Simulation models can incorporate population modelling and a validation framework will be developed for their future maintenance and extension. The application of these models in device design and testing will be explored. The session provides an opportunity to present material including:
(1) Motion capture and the validation of such data in persons with arthroplasty
(2) Musculoskeletal models for the prediction of wear and joint failure in joint arthroplasty
(3) Computational wear predictions
(4) Tribological wear models in dry and mixed lubrication modes
(5) Prediction of material performance in arthroplasty.