NCSI: Computational Investigation of Knee Joint Replacement

Status	Completed
Mentor Name	Jun Li
Mentor's XSEDE Affiliation	Research Allocation
Mentor Has Been in XSEDE Community	3-4 years
Project Title	Computational Investigation of Knee Joint Replacement
Summary	Knee-joint replacement is a procedure of replacing an injured joint with an artificial one, or prosthesis to mimic the function of a knee, taking into consideration of the patient's age, weight, activity level, and overall health. This project aims to develop accurate and efficient simulations that reproduce the artificial-knee tibiofemoral kinematics. Realistic representations will be obtained from 3D reconstructed X-ray CT images and quantified for mechanical analysis.
Job Description	The student will apply open-source Image processing software for Micro-CT image segmentation and visualizations. The student will transform the reconstructed images to finite element models for computational analysis. The student will build a virtual knee joint simulator to examine the original and the replaced knee-joint kinematics and dynamics within finite element simulations.
Computational Resources	We will start this project on a local HPC system with a reduced size model to let the student practice software packages and parallel methods. Then we plan to move to cloud-based XSEDE resources for a large size model. Since the image visualizations and analysis require interactive computing with large I/O and datasets, we will request Stampede 2 for this project. When time allows, we will further conduct performance tests on Stampede 2.
Contribution to Community	This project will train undergraduate students to do computational research of micro-CT image-based modeling on knee-joint replacement. The project will contribute to a virtual simulator for the knee-joint replacement to mimic the knee extension test using finite element analysis. It will also stimulate students' interests in developing large computational models that run on XSEDE clusters for micro-CT image-based modeling of knee-joint replacement.
Position Type	Intern
Training Plan	Training will be provided for the student to understand image segmentation/visualization techniques as well as use image process software such as open-source ImageJ or 3DSlicer packages. The student will also learn to use finite element analysis to simulate the artificial-tibiofemoral kinematics. In addition, the student will be trained to be familiar with Linux operating system and High-performance computing environment.
Student Prerequisites/Conditions/Qualifications	Must have programming skills such as in Matlab or Python to develop user scripts. CAD modeling and FEA skills are desired to transform the images into finite element models.
Duration	Semester
Start Date	09/01/2021
End Date	11/30/2021