OPENSIM: AN OPEN-SOURCE PLATFORM FOR SIMULATING AND ANALYZING

MUSCULOSKELETAL DYNAMICS

Frank C. Anderson1, Eran Guendelman1, Peter Loan2, Ayman Habib1, Chand John1,
Allison Arnold1, Darryl Thelen3, and Scott Delp1
1
Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
2
Musculographics Division, Motion Analysis Corporation, Santa Rosa, CA, USA
3
University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI, USA
E-mail: fca@stanford.edu, Web: www.simtk.org/home/opensim

INTRODUCTION METHODS
Muscle-actuated simulations allow one to
study how the elements of the
neuromusculoskeletal system function
together to generate movement. Although
the value of simulation is broadly
recognized and individual investigators have
made elegant contributions, the field
remains fragmented. Many laboratories
develop their own custom simulation
software, making it difficult for a simulation
to be reproduced, evaluated, and used
outside the laboratory where it was
developed. In addition, since software tools
are not freely accessible for assisting in the
development and analysis of
musculoskeletal simulations, researchers
typically must spend a great deal of time
implementing each new simulation and Figure 1: Schematic of OpenSim.
creating tools to analyze it. As a result,
many laboratories cannot dedicate the OpenSim is an object-oriented software
resources needed to generate their own platform written in C++ for modeling,
simulations. These conditions create a major simulating, and analyzing the
barrier to advancing simulation technology musculoskeletal system (Fig. 1). It is built
and achieving the scientific potential of on computational components that allow one
musculoskeletal simulation. to derive equations of motion for dynamical
systems, perform numerical integration, and
We have established a freely available open- solve constrained non-linear optimization
source simulation platform, called OpenSim, problems. Users can extend OpenSim by
to accelerate the development and sharing of writing their own plug-ins for specialized
simulation technology and to integrate controllers, analyses, actuators, and contact
dynamic simulations into the field of forces. A graphical user interface, written in
movement science. Java, allows users to view models, edit
muscles, and plot results. SIMM models
(Delp et al., 1990) can be imported and
analyzed. SimTrack, a set of tools in
OpenSim, enables muscle-driven
simulations to be generated that accurately
represent the dynamics of individual
subjects (Delp et al., in press). By using
computed muscle control (Thelen and
Anderson, 2006), rather than traditional
optimal control, SimTrack dramatically
reduces the computer time needed for
generating simulations. OpenSim is being
developed and maintained on simtk.org.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
OpenSim provides a platform on which the
biomechanics community can build a library
of models and simulations that can be
exchanged, tested, analyzed, and improved
through multi-institutional collaboration.
Currently, there are about 30 collaborators
from 12 different institutions working
together on simtk.org to develop and
improve OpenSim.
The architecture of OpenSim encourages
users to extend functionality by developing
their own muscle models, contact models,
controllers, and analyses. For example, there
are currently more than ten analysis plug-
ins, authored by different users, available in
OpenSim. These analyses compute muscle
moment arms and lengths, joint forces,
muscle-induced accelerations, and other
variables. Although these analyses were
developed for different models, they have
general applicability and can be used with
any OpenSim model. The plug-in
architecture of OpenSim thus provides a
means of rapidly disseminating new
functionality to the biomechanics
community.
Historically, optimal control has been used
to generate muscle-actuated simulations.
Even with parallel computing, generating
these solutions has been extremely costly
(e.g., Anderson and Pandy, 2001). Recent
advances have made it possible to generate
simulations in minutes. With SimTrack, it is
now practical to generate simulations on a
per-subject basis, opening up new
possibilities for the use of simulation,
including, for example, using simulation to
assist in identifying the causes of a
movement abnormality and evaluating
potential treatments for an individual.
We believe the adoption of a community-
owned open-source software platform for
simulating and analyzing the
musculoskeletal system will accelerate
research. A common platform means that
models can be evaluated and simulations can
be reproduced. When a simulation is
developed, it can be posted on simtk.org,
and then anyone can download, evaluate,
analyze, and extend it. Having access to the
source code means that the mathematics
underlying musculoskeletal models can be
critically reviewed and improved. OpenSim
has been seeded with an initial set of
capabilities. Our hope is that the broader
biomechanics community will not only use
OpenSim, but also engage in its
development by extending its functionality,
building new models, and contributing new
simulations.
REFERENCES
Anderson, F.C., Pandy, M.G. (2001). J.
Biomech. Eng., 123, 381-390.
Delp, S.L., et al. (1990). IEEE Trans. Biomed.
Eng., 37, 757-67.
Delp, S.L., et al. (in press). IEEE Tans. Biomed.
Eng.
Thelen, D.G., Anderson, F.C. (2006). J.
Biomech., 39, 1107-15.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
NIH Roadmap for Medical Research U54
GM072970, HD33929, and HD046814.