Development of a novel real-time simulation of human skeleton/muscles

Abstract

The objective of this research work was to develop a model of human skeleton with the capability of real-time simulation of the physical movements of a person in front of the motion capture hardware (Kinect) in order to analyze the motion data and measure the changes of joint torques. Mevea simulation software has been utilized for this purpose, which is a novel application of this software in the field of biomechanics. The model of the human skeleton was created in Mevea using the graphics built in 3ds Max. Simulink external interface for Mevea was established. Simulink acts as a connection between the Mevea software and Kinect for controlling the model. The developed model has been tested through three case studies involving the elbow joint, thoracic joint, and full body. Changes in torque and angular position of joints based on the input of joints are presented as graphs. The developed real-time model of the human skeleton in Mevea can execute the real-time simulation of a person's movements in front of a motion capture camera and provide the changes of torques, which are dependent on the angular positions of the body joints. This work provides the possibility to use the developed real-time model for physiotherapeutic rehabilitation to identify problematic muscles based on produced torque of the joints in order to specify the therapeutic options. The future research direction would be creating a reference databank by measuring healthy individuals' muscle forces for comparison purposes.