Project A02 investigates microscopic and macroscopic simulations in continuous media in context with the therapeutical electrical stimulation of bone, cartilage or deep brain structures.
Essential is the numerical solution of the relevant partial differential equations (Maxwell’s equations, etc.) with the finite element method to determine the desired quantities, particularly the electric field distribution. For the electrical parameters of the biological tissues, primarily parameterized relaxation models are employed. As already started on a pilot basis in the first funding period of the Collaborative Research Centre, values from project A05 can be used in the project. Electrical and electrochemical effects at the electrode-tissue interface, which depend on the selected type of stimulation, are employed through equivalent circuit models. In the first funding period, suitable theoretical and numerical models were selected. They will be further extended or refined. Results from simulations on a smaller scale are incorporated via homogenization approaches, equivalent circuit models or parameter extraction. Besides extending the multiscale and multiphysical models, establishing stochastic and inverse methods for determining patient-specific optimized recommendations for stimulation parameters presents another focus for the second funding period. To this end, an open-source,  multipurpose simulation platform based on the tissue-specific solutions established in the first funding period will be created. The clinical researchers in the consortium will test the simulation platform utilizing easy-to-use graphical user interfaces.

Link to project page on ELAINE website