Scientific Computation and Applied & Industrial Mathematics Seminar: Dinesh K. Pai

Our goal is to develop large scale computational models of the human biomechanical system. Such models have a wide range of applications, ranging from computer graphics to human health.  Despite the long history of research in this area, current models have significant shortcomings. I will first outline some of these problems and their solutions, including the proper accounting of muscle mass and the role of the giant protein titin in the molecular mechanisms of force production in muscles.

In the second part of the talk I will discuss numerical methods for simulating large scale musculoskeletal systems. Biological soft tissues are usually simulated using a Lagrangian discretization, following the standard practice in solid mechanics. However, realistic systems have many muscles and tendons that are highly constrained by each other and by connective tissues. Dealing with these constraints pose significant challenges for the traditional approach. Instead, I will advocate the use of Eulerian (and Eulerian-on-Lagrangian) discretizations. I will demonstrate recent results using this approach in simulating the tendon networks of the hand, human skin, and multiple muscles in contact.