Musculoskeletal Robotics and Mechanical Testing Core
Core Focus: Robotic and mechanical testing of musculoskeletal structures and biomaterials
The Robotics and Mechanical Testing Core offers facilities and expertise for mechanical testing of musculoskeletal structures and biomaterials through an organizational structure of shared equipment and resources. The Core will provide expertise in material testing using devices currently located in BME as well as a robotics. In addition, they will assist in data management for user experiments including, data collection, data analysis, and data archiving. The Core supports testing of tissues, joints and multi-articular units, such as foot or spine segments. Suitable applications include testing of ligaments, tendons, bone, cartilage, implants, orthotics, limbs, etc.
Core Location: The Musculoskeletal Robotics and Mechanical Testing Core is under the supervision of Peter Cavanagh, Ph.D., DSc and Ton van den Bogert, PhD, and is located in the Department of Biomedical Engineering, on the first floor (ND1-04) and in the basement of the ND building (NDB-10, 12, 13, and 14).
Major Core Equipment:
- Robotic Musculoskeletal Simulator
- Uniaxial and Biaxial Testing Machines
- Video Data Acquisition and Motion Capture
- Measurement Transducers
- Dissection laboratory for specimen preparation
Note: All specimens MUST have serological data prior to being handled by core staff.
To request service: Contact the core administrator to develop a work request. After reviewing your request someone from the core will contact you to arrange for a free initial consultation. Once your project has been deemed feasible you will need to submit a two page proposal detailing your project. The project proposal will be reviewed by the core directors who will then decide the priority of the project. Projects that are sponsored by members of the core user base as well as those with established funding will be given higher priority.