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Modern developments of biomedical applications demand a better understanding of mechanical behaviour of soft biological tissues. As human soft tissues demonstrate a significant structural and functional diversity, characterisation of their mechanical behaviour still remains a challenge. Limitations related with implementation of mechanical experiments on human participants lead to a use of finite-element models for analysis of mechanical responses of soft tissues to different loads. This study focuses on parameters of numerical simulation considered for modelling of indentation of a human lower limb. Assessment of the effect of boundary conditions on the model size shows that at a ratio of its length to the tissue's thickness of 1.7 for the 3D model this effect vanishes. The numerical results obtained with models employing various sets of mechanical parameters of the first-order Ogden scheme were compared with original experimental data. Furthermore, high sensitivity of the resulting reaction forces to the indenting direction is demonstrated for cases of both linear and angular misalignments of the indenter. Finally, the effect of changes in material parameters and their domain on their contribution to the reaction forces is discussed with the aim to improve our understanding of mechanical behaviour of soft tissues based on numerical methods. The undertaken research with its results on minimal requirements for finite-element models of indentation of soft tissues can support inverse analysis of their mechanical properties and underpin orthopaedic and medical procedures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Soft tissues in the hip region, which are typically considered the natural shock-absorbers during falls, attenuate the applied forces to the underlying hard tissue. The soft tissue thickness is, therefore, a significant parameter in the force attenuation. Another factor that could affect the assessment of the force attenuation in numerical simulations is the choice of constitutive model and material parameters for the soft tissue. Several constitutive models and parameters for muscle and adipose tissue were suggested in the published literature; however, the biofidelity of the proposed models for the lateral impacts has not been assessed yet. To achieve this purpose, we used a previously developed human body model named THUMS v4.02 and modified the mechanical properties and geometry of the soft tissues in the hip region. The simulations consisted of regional hip models and whole-body models. The biofidelity of the constitutive models of muscle and adipose tissue was determined objectively using the CORrelation and Analysis (CORA) rating. Moreover, the potential force attenuating effect of the adipose tissue thickness was investigated in the regional models. We collected and fitted several available nonlinear material models for muscle and adipose tissue and implemented them. The CORA ratings for several constitutive models for adipose tissue in the regional model were above 0.8. Among the muscle constitutive models, three Ogden models consistently rated above 0.58 for the whole-body model. Moreover, the impact forces in the selected adipose tissue model attenuated 47 N for every 1 mm increase in thickness. Overall, the choice of the nonlinear material model for the adipose and muscle tissue influences the external and internal force, and the difference between the material models is more pronounced when the thickness of the soft tissue increases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]