Computational modelling is being extensively employed to assess the
biomechanical properties and response of bone and bone-implant systems.
Recent years have seen increasing emphasis on the development of
personalised or patient-specific models, to address clinical problems.
Routine use of personalised models, which require numerous
patient-specific features, remains a challenge. Using my group’s
research, I will demonstrate that the principle of parsimony or the
Occam’s razor, which advocates searching for answers using the smallest
set of parameters, provides solutions to many real clinical problems.
The talk will use examples of novel approaches we have developed for
bone quality prediction and for optimising fracture fixation and joint
replacements (e.g. hip and knee). I will illustrate that generic models
are not only simple but can also be effectively exploited to evaluate
the outcomes and recommend the best treatment option(s) if key
subject-specific parameters are incorporated.
Professor Pankaj Pankaj obtained his undergraduate degree from Indian
Institute of Technology (IIT), Delhi, master’s degree in Earthquake
Engineering from University of Roorkee (now IIT Roorkee) and PhD in
Numerical Methods from University of Wales, Swansea. His principal
expertise is in the area of nonlinear computational solid mechanics. In
his early career, his research focused on earthquake resistant design of
structures and he provided extensive consultancy in the area of seismic
design and qualification of structures such as nuclear power plants,
dams and buildings. At the University of Edinburgh, he established the
interdisciplinary computational biomechanics group, which comprises of
researchers with backgrounds in physical sciences, engineering and
medical sciences. His group has been extremely successful in exploiting
numerical methods and mechanics in the solution of clinical problems.
For research supervised by him, Pankaj’s students have received
prestigious awards from VPHi (Virtual Physiological Human Institute,
Belgium), Institution of Mechanical Engineers, British Orthopaedic
Research Society, British Orthipaedic Association and Carnegie Trust for
Universities in Scotland in the form of prizes and fellowships. He has
delivered keynote talks at clinical conferences in North America, Europe
and Asia. In 2022, he was awarded the prestigious KT Dholakia gold
medal and delivered the Plenary Dholakia Eponymous Lecture to
orthopaedic surgeons in Mumbai at WIROC Global.
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