Computational biomechanical modelling of the rabbit cranium during mastication

Watson, Peter J.; Sharp, Alana C.; Choudhary, Tarun; Fagan, Michael J.; Dutel, Hugo; Evans, Susan E.; Gröning, Flora

doi:10.1038/s41598-021-92558-5

Computational biomechanical modelling of the rabbit cranium during mastication

Watson, Peter J.; Sharp, Alana C.; Choudhary, Tarun; Fagan, Michael J.; Dutel, Hugo; Evans, Susan E.; Gröning, Flora

Authors

Peter J. Watson

Alana C. Sharp

Tarun Choudhary

Michael J. Fagan

Hugo Dutel

Susan E. Evans

Flora Gröning

Abstract

Although a functional relationship between bone structure and mastication has been shown in some regions of the rabbit skull, the biomechanics of the whole cranium during mastication have yet to be fully explored. In terms of cranial biomechanics, the rabbit is a particularly interesting species due to its uniquely fenestrated rostrum, the mechanical function of which is debated. In addition, the rabbit processes food through incisor and molar biting within a single bite cycle, and the potential influence of these bite modes on skull biomechanics remains unknown. This study combined the in silico methods of multi-body dynamics and finite element analysis to compute musculoskeletal forces associated with a range of incisor and molar biting, and to predict the associated strains. The results show that the majority of the cranium, including the fenestrated rostrum, transmits masticatory strains. The peak strains generated over all bites were found to be attributed to both incisor and molar biting. This could be a consequence of a skull shape adapted to promote an even strain distribution for a combination of infrequent incisor bites and cyclic molar bites. However, some regions, such as the supraorbital process, experienced low peak strain for all masticatory loads considered, suggesting such regions are not designed to resist masticatory forces.

Citation

Watson, P. J., Sharp, A. C., Choudhary, T., Fagan, M. J., Dutel, H., Evans, S. E., & Gröning, F. (2021). Computational biomechanical modelling of the rabbit cranium during mastication. Scientific reports, 11(1), https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-92558-5

Journal Article Type	Article
Acceptance Date	Jun 8, 2021
Online Publication Date	Jun 23, 2021
Publication Date	Dec 1, 2021
Deposit Date	Jul 1, 2021
Publicly Available Date	Jul 5, 2021
Journal	Scientific Reports
Print ISSN	2045-2322
Electronic ISSN	2045-2322
Publisher	Nature Publishing Group
Peer Reviewed	Peer Reviewed
Volume	11
Issue	1
DOI	https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-92558-5
Keywords	Biomedical engineering; Computational models; Musculoskeletal system
Public URL	https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/3792998

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