Biomedical Engineering’s Jeff Weiss along with UU colleague Steve Maas from the Scientific Computing and Imaging Institute (SCI) contributed their research and expertise from the FEBio software project to a publication from colleague Gerard Ateshian (Columbia University) entitled “Modeling Fatigue Failure of Cartilage and Fibrous Biological Tissues Using Constrained Reactive Mixture Theory” published in July, 2024. This publication was just awarded the annual Richard Skalak Award given by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) for the best paper published in their Journal of Biomechanical Engineering each year. ASME is an esteemed non-profit organization founded in 1880 that strives to support the engineering community in their pursuit of innovative solutions to real world problems. The Journal of Biomechanical Engineering publishes research articles, such as this year’s Richard Skalak Award Paper, dedicated to research and application of mechanical engineering.
Dr. Ateshian, a long-time Weiss and FEBio collaborator, is the senior author of the award-winning paper along with his post-doctoral fellow Brandon Zimmerman. The paper explains in-depth how computer models help researchers study fatigue failure (natural wear and tear progression) in soft body tissue to understand its effects on diseases like osteoarthritis. This study focuses on a new model used to highlight how soft tissues break down over time. This is done by tracking energy use and the likelihood for damage by examining healthy-to-damaged tissue changes. Dr. Weiss and Dr. Maas’ contributions from their FEBIo software tools apply nonlinear finite element analysis methods to test the model and compare data. The Richard Skalak Award winning article is available here.
FEBio is a joint effort between Jeff Weiss’ laboratory at the University of Utah and Gerard Ateshian’s Laboratory at Columbia University that started in 2007. This software was created to address the historical issues hindering research progress due to the lack of an open software environment tailored to the needs of biomechanics and biophysics. FEBio applies mixture theory to account for the multi-constituent nature of biological tissues and fluids, unifying the classical fields of irreversible thermodynamics, solid mechanics, fluid mechanics, mass transport, chemical reactions and electrokinetics. In November, 2024, Weiss and Ateshian received a $2 million grant to continue the development of FEBio. Read more about how the software works and the grant here.
Additionally, Jeff Weiss and Gerard Ateshian along with SCI Research Computer Scientist, Steven LaBelle won the Editor’s Choice award for their Journal of Biomechanical Engineering paper titled, “Continuum Growth Mechanics: Reconciling Two Common Frameworks.” This paper describes work showing how the two most common models used to simulate biological tissues growth – the constrained-mixture model and the kinematic growth model – could be mathematically connected. The intention was to help potential users choose the correct model for their research. Results showed that the kinematic growth model is mathematically consistent with a special form of the constrained-mixture growth model. With this form, the tissue structure is replaced instantly as it grows, following a specific shape change. Both models require a cellular supply of chemical energy to allow deposition of solid mass under a stressed state. Calculations showed that the energy needed is minor compared to the daily use of the human body. Read the full Editor’s Choice paper here
Congratulations to all researchers and co-authors of these award-winning articles. Their contributions to the engineering community are invaluable and will be instrumental in continuing scientific research in their respective fields.