Engineering - Material mechanics of human knee joint menisci - In Vitro and In Silico investigations
Supervisor: Dr Rosti Readioff
Supervisor bio: Dr Rosti Readioff is a lecturer (assistant professor) in the Department of Materials, Design & Manufacturing Engineering, University of Liverpool. Her role involves research in biomedical engineering and teaching engineering students.
Before joining the University of Liverpool, Dr Readioff was a lecturer (Teaching and Research) at the Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Bath. She gained leadership and management experience when coordinating students and staff to deliver teaching on the Group Business Design Project (GBDP 1 & GBDP II) units for the third and fourth-year mechanical engineering students. During this time, she continued collaborating with surgeons and academics interested in orthopaedic and dental bioengineering research.
Prior to her first lectureship, Dr Readioff was a Research Fellow at the School of Mechanical Engineering, Institute of Medical and Biological Engineering, University of Leeds, Leeds, UK. She worked on The Optimising Knee Therapies programme grant and contributed to the project's numerical modelling and simulation tasks. In particular, she led the development of finite element models representing the meniscus within the tibiofemoral joint to evaluate meniscal allografts' mechanical and tribological performance.
As a postdoctoral research associate at the School of Pharmacy and Bioengineering, Keele University, Stafford, UK, her project was funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC). This project focused on using musculoskeletal modelling and analysis to develop a personalised assistive technology to support people who are paralysed and have lost functionality of their upper limbs.
In addition to her academic journey, she worked full-time as an Advanced Research Engineer at The Manufacturing Technology Centre Ltd., where she focused on Physics Modelling and Simulation. She learnt to work at different Technology Readiness Levels in research while gaining extensive project management skills. While working at the Manufacturing Technology Centre, she attained Chartered Engineer status from the Institution of Mechanical Engineers.
Dr Readioff's interest in biomechanics and numerical simulation started while pursuing her undergraduate engineering degree. She graduated with a first-class MEng (Hons) degree in Civil and Structural Engineering in 2013 and a PhD in Engineering in 2018 from the University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK. Her PhD thesis focused on determining material characteristics of knee joint ligaments ex vivo and developing a finite element model of the knee joint.
Her personal website is: https://rostireadioff.wordpress.com/
Email: rosti@liverpool.ac.uk
School: Engineering
Department: Engineering
Module code: ENGG290
Suitable for students of: N/A
Desired experience or requirements: Students with computational modelling and simulation knowledge, particularly finite element modelling.
Places available: 6
Start dates: 10 June 2024, 1 July 2024
Project length: 8 - 12 weeks
Virtual option: No
Project description:
Meniscal injuries are the second most common injury to the knee, with meniscal tears accounting for 70,000 hospital admissions per annum in the UK alone. One of the critical consequences of meniscal injuries is knee joint instability, which can develop into long-term degeneration of the articular cartilage. Meniscal injuries are caused by excessive strain, highlighting the importance of meniscal material mechanics and kinematics during functional loading. Therefore, a comprehensive study of knee joint menisci behaviour during physiologically relevant loading is vital to identify key mechanical and kinematic parameters responsible for reducing the risk of meniscal injuries.
A strategy to overcome the consequences of meniscal injuries is implanting synthetic menisci. However, limited meniscal implants are available, and those currently obtainable are insufficient for improving patient clinical outcomes. This limitation is likely due to the need for more material mechanics and kinematics data for menisci or technological advancement to obtain such data.
Additional requirements: N/A