EquiSim: An Open-Source Articulatable Statistical Model of the Equine Distal Limb

Jeroen Van Houtte; Filip Vandenberghe; Guoyan Zheng; Toon Huysmans; Jan Sijbers

doi:10.3389/fvets.2021.623318

EquiSim: An Open-Source Articulatable Statistical Model of the Equine Distal Limb

Front Vet Sci. 2021 Mar 3:8:623318. doi: 10.3389/fvets.2021.623318. eCollection 2021.

Authors

Jeroen Van Houtte¹, Filip Vandenberghe², Guoyan Zheng³, Toon Huysmans^{1

4}, Jan Sijbers¹

Affiliations

¹ imec-Vision Lab, University of Antwerp, Antwerp, Belgium.
² Equine Hospital Bosdreef, Moerbeke-Waas, Belgium.
³ Center for Image-Guided Therapy and Interventions, Institute for Medical Robotics, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China.
⁴ Section on Applied Ergonomics and Design, Faculty of Industrial Design Engineering, Delft University of Technology, Delft, Netherlands.

Abstract

Most digital models of the equine distal limb that are available in the community are static and/or subject specific; hence, they have limited applications in veterinary research. In this paper, we present an articulatable model of the entire equine distal limb based on statistical shape modeling. The model describes the inter-subject variability in bone geometry while maintaining proper jointspace distances to support model articulation toward different poses. Shape variation modes are explained in terms of common biometrics in order to ease model interpretation from a veterinary point of view. The model is publicly available through a graphical user interface (https://github.com/jvhoutte/equisim) in order to facilitate future digitalization in veterinary research, such as computer-aided designs, three-dimensional printing of bone implants, bone fracture risk assessment through finite element methods, and data registration and segmentation problems for clinical practices.

Keywords: bone shape model; computer aided (geometric) design; digitalization 3D; equine hoof; equine/horse model; morphometrics; principal component analysis; statistical shape model.