Foetus-specific neuromusculoskeletal modelling with MRI-driven vaginal delivery kinematics during the second stage of labor

Comput Methods Biomech Biomed Engin. 2024 May 8:1-14. doi: 10.1080/10255842.2024.2350594. Online ahead of print.ABSTRACTChildbirth simulations lack realism due to an oversimplification of the foetal model, particularly as most models do not allow joint motion. Foetus-specific neuromusculoskeletal (NMS) model with a detailed articulated skeleton is still not available in the literature. The present work aims at proposing the first-ever foetus-specific NMS model and then simulating the foetal descent during a vaginal delivery by using in vivo medical resonance imaging (MRI) childbirth data. Moreover, the developed model is provided open source for the community. Our foetus-specific NMS model was developed using the geometries reconstructed from a foetal computed tomography (CT) scan (Female, mass = 2.35 kg, length = 50 cm). The model contains 22 joints (64 degrees of freedom) and 65 muscles with a particular attention to the cervical spine level to enable the simulation of the cardinal movements. Then, the skull-to-cervical-spine (S/CP) and cervical-spine-to-torso (CP/T) deflection angles were extracted from in vivo MRI data for motion simulation. The S/CP and CP/T deflexion angles range from 12 degrees of flexion to 2 degrees of extension and from 7 degrees of flexion to 22 degrees of extension respectively. The developed model opens new avenues in more biofidelic childbirth simulations with a complete foetal NMS model. Obtained outcomes with the in vivo MRI data enabled to pe...
Source: Computer Methods in Biomechanics and Biomedical Engineering - Category: Biomedical Engineering Authors: Source Type: research