simtk.org

Hi,
I tried to go through the forum as well as the project’s pages carefully, but I haven’t found much about modeling the motion of the mandible. Am I right, or I missed something somewhere?

If there is no functional model of the skull-jaw connection, I need to connect these two bodies (create appropriate joint) and add appropriate muscles (to begin with: the m.maseter, m. temporalis and probably m.pterygoid). That is it?

Michala

Hi Michala,

I'm not aware of OpenSim models that study jaw movement, but you may consult the owners of the project https://simtk.org/home/neck_mechanics and they probably can point you in the right direction. There are other modeling packages that handle the oral complex but it would be great to have such a model in OpenSim as well. Making a model from scratch is a major undertaking especially since you need to find ways to validate it (e.g. against experimental data etc.) so keep that in mind.

Best of luck and please let us know if you need help getting started,
-Ayman

Hi Ayman,
Thank you for your reply. You are right that the model using “neck mechanics” seems suitable for me. I have already started – I have defined the new joint between skull and jaw with appropriate ranges of motion and I am adding some more muscles. It would be great if later can somebody have a look at the model and tell me if there are some basic errors or if it is ok for further analysis.

Michala