In this PhD project, a new computational strategy will be developed and informed by state-of-the-art
experimental approaches at multiple length scales, to simulate damage propagation on human trabecular bone microstructures from clinically relevant locations.

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Description:

Amputee cases increase due to vascular diseases between elderly people, and mainly due to traffic accidents or war injuries in younger people. A prosthetic socket is the critical interface between a person’s body and their prosthetic device. Prosthetic sockets are traditionally made by rigid materials, which are not thermoregulatory and cause irritations, wounds and ulcerations. Hence, amputee comfort is still a challenging research field.

This position offers the possibility of researching in innovative lattice structures to design and optimise traditional sockets, and hence improve quality of life of the increasing young amputee population in the world.

Department:

Department of Mechanical Engineering and Materials of Tecnun, the Engineering School of the University of Navarra. During the PhD, the student will have the opportunity to do a placement at a foreign university or research center. The research project will be carried out in collaboration with the Clinica Universidad de Navarra.

Requirements:

– Master Degree in Mechanical Engineering or similar degrees.

– Language: Highly proficient in English.

– Software: Finite Element software (ABAQUS), basic programming in Matlab, Python, Computer Aided Design software (Rhinoceros, Grasshopper, CREO).

– To have initiative for research.

Offered:

Tecnun, the Engineering School of the University of Navarra offers a 4-year doctoral contract at the Technological Campus in San Sebastian (Spain).

Thesis should be completed in 4 years.

Start date: As soon as possible.

Documentation:

Send the following documentation by email to alopez@unav.es: cover letter describing your motivation as a thesis candidate; updated CV; undergraduate and Master’s degree transcripts.

Institutes: Queensland University of Technology (QUT, Australia), and University of Paris Est Creteil (UPEC, France) — Multiscale modeling and simulation lab (MSME UMR 8208 CNRS).

Supervisors: Prof. Peter Pivonka (QUT, peter.pivonka@qut.edu.au) and Prof. Vittorio Sansalone (MSME UPEC, vittorio.sansalone@u-pec.fr)

Résumé: We seek to better understand how cortical bone is affected by osteoporosis and drug treatments. The successful PhD candidate will develop state-of-the-art computational models of bone remodeling to predict changes in cortical porosity and bone matrix properties due to osteoporosis and other treatment regimens. The in-silico results will be validated by experimental data provided by Prof David Cooper (USASK). Project areas include:

• Development of continuous, i.e. based on partial differential equations, models of bone remodeling to investigate the behaviour of basic multicellular units (BMUs) in cortical bone;

• Development of discrete, i.e. cellular automata based, models of BMU behaviour in cortical bone;

• Development of multiscale models of bone remodeling and adaptation that are able to predict changes in cortical porosity and bone tissue mineral density distribution.

Closing date: Applications will be accepted until the scholarship is awarded, but applications will be assessed starting June 25th, 2023.

More information (salary, essential and desirable criteria, etc.):

The biomechanics group at Lund University, Sweden, is looking for a PhD student to investigate hip biomechanics using statistical shape models. This is a fully funded PhD position and applications must be sent through the official recruitment portal: https://lu.varbi.com/what:job/jobID:630169/?lang=en.

Deadline: June 23^rd, 2023

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This is an offer for a PhD topic at Univ Eiffel in Lyon France in collaboration with major industrial partners:

Title: Towards a more equitable protection of vehicle occupants: combining human body models and metamodeling techniques to improve safety

Start date: October 2023.

Keywords: Biomechanics, Finite element modelling and simulation, Metamodeling, Machine learning

Academic environment and work place: Laboratory of Biomechanics and Impact Mechanics, Univ. Eiffel, Lyon France

Industrial partners: Autoliv (Gothenburg, Sweden), LAB PSA Renault (Nanterre, France).

See document for details and contact information:

The call includes 14 positions.  We have four projects in the field of Biomechanics:

  #2 Towards digital diagnosis: models for the evaluation of the intervertebral disc (supervisor: prof. Luca Cristofolini)

  #3 Prevention of vertebral fractures: digital diagnosis and computational modelling of vertebrae affected by metastasis (supervisor: prof. Luca Cristofolini)

  #4 Digital twins to prevent the risk of joint replacement failure in patients affected by neurodegenerative disorders (supervisor: prof. Marco Viceconti)

  #5 Digital twins informed by wearable sensors to predict joint loads in the real world (supervisor: prof. Marco Viceconti)

All the positions are within the PhD program in Health and Technology, a highly interdisciplinary program which includes supervisors from the different domains.  The call is closing on 20 June, to start on 1st November 2023.  

https://www.unibo.it/en/teaching/phd/2023-2024/health-and-technologies

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Interested in diving into the fascinating world of vascular biomechanics and imaging? There is an open position for a PhD candidate in the field of experimental vascular biomechanics in the Biomechanics Group at Erasmus MC / TU Delft.

Application links and more info: https://www.werkenbijerasmusmc.nl/en/vacancy/88181/phd-position-experimental-vascular-biomechanics-11.05.23.td1

The INSERM U1059 Sainbiose laboratory is looking for a PhD student in the framework of a new French National Research Agency (ANR) project “Insole Optimization for Rheumatoid Arthritis patients” (coll. CHU Saint-Etienne, INRIA Alpes).

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is the most common chronic inflammatory joint disease, with a prevalence of about 0.5%. RA is a peripheral polyarthritis that affects the hands and feet: foot function is compromised, which is accompanied by changes in plantar pressures and gait disorders that have a strong impact on daily activities. Foot pain and disability can be reduced with customized foot orthotics and therapeutic footwear. The mechanisms involved in this treatment lack methodological evaluation. In particular, the design of the insoles and their relationship to internal effects such as joint pressure and soft tissue deformities have not been studied due to the difficult nature of such studies in a clinical environment.
From a medical point of view, the INORA project aims to understand, through patient-specific numerical biomechanical models, the mechanisms of action of shoes and orthopedic insoles in order to propose a well-founded design methodology. From a more fundamental point of view, these models will allow the discovery of the mechanical determinants of pain relief, which will promote the long-term well-being of patients.

The thesis project will focus on the mechanical finite element modeling of a moving foot, and then the optimization of the medical device (sole, shoe) in order to minimize the stresses in the critical pain areas. We are looking for a (bio) mechanical engineer with good numerical skills, interested in health applications and able to integrate in a multi-disciplinary research team.

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