# A Lower Extremity Neuromusculoskeletal Human Simulator: Addressing Multiscale Challenges

> **NIH NIH U01** · UNIVERSITY OF DENVER (COLORADO SEMINARY) · 2020 · $449,974

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY / ABSTRACT
Our vision is to represent the human musculoskeletal system, through the creation of data and models, with
the realism needed to understand pathology and improve treatment. The human body is inherently multiscale.
Diseases and injuries often affect tissues at the microstructural scale; small-scale pathology impacts
biomechanics at larger scales, leading to whole-body movement compensations that oftentimes promote
further injury or accelerate degeneration. Ultimately, a multiscale approach, describing the behavior of
individual tissues, and the biomechanics of the whole body, is needed to elucidate the etiology of diseases,
mechanisms of adaptation and best treatments. The overall goal of this proposal is to create a comprehensive
multiscale neuromusculoskeletal model of the human lower extremity, which includes seamless connection
between tissue and whole-body function during dynamic human activities and enables realistic investigations
of musculoskeletal disease and treatment. While we will create and share models with broad applicability in
biomechanics, our target is understanding the effects of knee osteoarthritis (OA) on patient function and
optimizing treatment through total knee arthroplasty (TKA). OA is a serious degenerative joint disease and the
leading cause of disability in the elderly. Moreover, OA is interrelated with many pressing health concerns,
including obesity, cardiovascular disease (CVD), Alzheimer’s disease, dementia, and depression. Joint
replacement remains the only effective treatment for advanced OA. Unfortunately, as many as 20-30% of total
joint replacement patients report pain, require additional surgeries, and endure a poor movement-related
quality of life. A tenet of our research is the use of human modeling and simulation to investigate the multiscale
effects of OA on patients, and to improve the design and practice of joint replacement surgery.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9991613
- **Project number:** 5U01AR072989-03
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF DENVER (COLORADO SEMINARY)
- **Principal Investigator:** KEVIN B SHELBURNE
- **Activity code:** U01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $449,974
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2018-09-07 → 2022-07-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9991613

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9991613, A Lower Extremity Neuromusculoskeletal Human Simulator: Addressing Multiscale Challenges (5U01AR072989-03). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9991613. Licensed CC0.

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