Studying spinal feedback loops post tendon transfer surgery using the pincer grasp task: A Neuro-Musculoskeletal...

Area of Science:

• Biomechanics
• Neuroscience
• Medical Simulation

Background:

• Clinical trials for wrist interventions are complex and costly.
• Virtual models can aid in understanding surgical outcomes and biomechanics.

Purpose of the Study:

• To create an in-silico test bed for replicating clinical scenarios of wrist surgery.
• To analyze the biomechanics of different surgical models and the impact of neural components.

Main Methods:

• Developed a virtual wrist model on the NEUROiD platform using NEURON and OpenSim.
• Simulated four models: healthy, damaged FPL muscle, tendon-transfer, and pulley-based surgery.
• Analyzed pincer grasp and the effect of proprioceptive afferents on thumb force.

Main Results:

• The virtual thumb exerted less force with proprioceptive afferents present.
• The pulley model demonstrated higher force on the index digit compared to the tendon-transfer model.
• The pulley system enhanced FPL force and inhibited BRD muscle activity.

Conclusions:

• The developed in-silico test bed enables simulation of neural and musculoskeletal systems for wrist biomechanics.
• Virtual surgical models can assess intervention feasibility, efficacy, and safety before clinical application.
• This approach provides a novel platform for designing virtual clinical trials.