The Musculoskeletal Biomechanics Laboratory is located in room 403 of the Multidisciplinary Research Building in the Department of Biomedical Engineering. We have in-house facilities for experimental and numerical studies of tissue and whole body biomechanics as well as implant systems.
Equipment
Material and tissue testing facilities:
- Computer-controlled uniaxial electromechanical material testing system (Instron 5544) with various load cells and jigs for tension, compression and bending (3,4-point) loading modes
- Computer-controlled pendulum impact test system (Instron Dynatup POE2000e)
- Pneumatic stress-relaxation testing system
- Strain gauges, amplifiers and acquisition system
- High-precision electromechanical indentor
Whole body biomechanics:
- Below-knee prosthesis with phantom of the residual limb instrumented to measure limb-prosthesis contact pressures for various knee loading conditions
- Pressure mat (Tactilus sensor products Co.) for sitting pressure measurements.
- 2 Pressure pads (Tactilus sensor products Co.) for lower-limb prosthetic-users.
- Contact pressure measurement sensors (FlexiForce, Tekscan Co.) and data acquisition system, including sensor circuits, amplifiers, and sampling (A/D) boards
- Electronic goniometers and sampling circuits
- CCD cameras, video system and monitors for analysis of posture and motion kinematics
- 12-channel BIOPAC EMG amplifier system and surface electrodes
- Treadmill
- Various precision weights (e.g. 5, 10, 20 Kg)
- Wheelchair
Light microscope facilities:
- Transmitted and reflected light microscope
- CCD camera-based image acquisition system, fully integrated with our computers, including image analysis software
Bone processing facilities:
- Drill press, rotating diamond saw, storage refrigerator and freezer, digital scale (resolution: 0.01g)
- Chemical hood
Electronics:
- Digital and analogue oscilloscopes, pulse generators, power supplies, amplifiers, universal multitester, soldering tools
Computers
Our computational facilities for image processing and high-performance computation include several PC-based workstations, connected through a local network and to the campus network and high-speed Internet via Ethernet connections
Software:
- SolidWorks 2008 for geometry reconstruction and solid modeling
- ABAQUS 6.8
- NASTRAN 2005 for finite element analysis
- Visual Studio (C++ developer package)
- MATLAB
- LABVIEW 8.5
- Photoshop
- Adobe Acrobat Writer
- Various packages for word processing, statistical analysis, graph plotting, and slide preparation
Peripheral Hardware:
- 30, 60 and 80 GB portable backup hard-disks
- 3 scanners, one equipped for X-ray, CT and MRI films
- CD-ROM writers
- Networked laser and color printers
Cell and tissue culturing facilities
We have full access to shared departmental facilities for cell and tissue culturing. One cell lab includes 2 laminar flow cabinets, 2 incubators, refrigerators and -20, -70°C freezers, optical microscopes and a Western blot. The other lab includes 3 additional laminar flow cabinets, 3 biological-chemical hoods, 4 more incubators, advanced light microscopes with full image capture abilities, and a fluorescent microscope.