Ontology of the musculo-skeletal system of the lower limbs

A new approach is presented to understand the impact of pathologies of the musculo-skeletal system on the gait in biomechanics. Usually models used in biomechanics are based on rigid or deformable models. These models are used to understand the mechanism of the joint or the gait and diagnose the pathologies. Most of the models cannot simulate pathologies as simplified assumptions are performed. Our approach of modeling is based on the models abstracts. Our aim is to build an extensible ontology in the biomechanics field, named OSMMI¹- Ontology of the musculo-skeletal system of the lower limbs. Four principal objectives are to be addressed. The first objective is to formalize the studies concerning the lower limbs of the human body. The second objective is to build an expert system to diagnose the pathologies concerning the lower limbs and especially gait (rotational abnormalities, cerebral palsy, internally rotated gait, crouch gait). The third objective is to help to model the new problems based on accumulated knowledges and the last objective is to prepare the elements for the development of the semantic Web in biomechanics. Firstly, the context of research is presented, then the methods used to create our ontology. Preliminary results of modeling and applications will be addressed.