ESB Webinar Series - No. 25 - Linking Movement, Loading, and Adaptation: Computational Biomechanics

Linking Movement, Loading, and Adaptation: Computational Biomechanics in Paediatric Clinical Research This webinar will explore the way bone morphology, in all its intricate three-dimensional detail, profoundly shapes functional movements like walking. Reciprocally, bone morphology is shaped by the mechanical loads caused by such movements. This symbiotic relationship between form and function is the focus of my research. A key long-term objective of the lab of Hans Kainz is to deepen the understanding of the relationships between movement, internal loading, and mechanobiological adaptation in order to address clinically relevant challenges. This webinar will demonstrate how computational biomechanics, integrating medical imaging and three-dimensional movement data, can generate new insights into pathological movement patterns and their consequences for musculoskeletal loading in paediatric populations. In particular, the webinar presents recent findings from the lab's musculoskeletal and multiscale simulation studies across several clinical cohorts, including patients with torsional deformities, cerebral palsy, and patellofemoral instability. It further discusses how clinical limitations guide the group's research efforts and developments, with the overarching aim of advancing fundamental science and ultimately improving clinical practice. During this webinar, attendees will learn about: The interplay between bone morphology, functional movement, and mechanical loading in shaping musculoskeletal adaptation. How to create patient-specific models and perform musculoskeletal and finite element simulations based on medical imaging and three-dimensional movement data. How computational biomechanics can be used to investigate the impact of surgical and non-surgical interventions on internal loads. How clinical constraints and challenges inform the development of computational methods and their translation toward clinical practice. The webinar is conducted by Prof. Hans Kainz. Hans is an Associate Professor and Head of the Neuromechanics Research Group at the University of Vienna (Austria). His research focuses on unraveling the complex interplay between anatomy, human movement, in vivo loading, and mechanobiological adaptations. Hans obtained his PhD in Biomechanics from Griffith University (Australia) in 2016 and worked as a Rehabilitation Engineer at Queensland Children’s Hospital from 2014 to 2016. From 2017 to 2020, he was a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at KU Leuven (Belgium). Hans has received several prestigious awards and grants, including a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Fellowship (2018-2022), the ESB Clinical Biomechanist Award (2020), the ESB Early Career Award (2023), the ESMAC Promising Scientist Award (2024), and an ERC Consolidator Grant (2025-2029). He is an OpenSim Fellow (Stanford) and serves as a board member of the ESMAC society and the ESB Austrian chapter.