Dr Kumar Mithraratne

BSc(Eng) Moratuwa, MSc Dist. Lond., PhD NU Singapore

Senior Research Fellow

Biography

Kumar graduated with a Bachelor of Science of Engineeering in Chemical Engineering from the University of Moratuwa, Sri Lanka. He received a Master of Science with Distinction from the University of London (King's College London) and a PhD from the National University of Singapore, both in Mechanical Engineering.

Kumar is a recipient of the British Government Technical Corporation fellowship and a University of Auckland Postdoctoral Fellowship.

Kumar joined the Auckland Bioengineering Institute in 2000 is now a Principal Investigator.

Research | Current

Kumar is currently working on musculoskeletal system biomechanics and facial animation using biophysically-based models.

His primary research interests are:

soft tissue continuum mechanics,
joint mechanics,
finite element analysis,
gait analysis and flow mechanics.

Research Group

Musculoskeletal Modelling

Grants

2013 - 2014 "Biomechanical Modelling to Explain Tophus Formation and Bone Erosion in Gout"
Role: Co-investigator
Grant value: NZD 117,300
Funding agency: Auckland Medical Research Foundation, New Zealand.
2013 - 2014 "Bi-planar Fluroscopic Imaging of the Shoulder Complex"
Role: Principal Investigator
Grant value: NZD 12,500
Funding agency: Faculty Research Development Fund, University of Auckland, New Zealand.
2013 - 2014 "Fast Fracture"
Role: Co-investigator
Grant value: NZD 1,000,000
Funding agency: Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment, New Zealand.
2011 - 2014 "Expressive Heads and Hands"
Role: Principal Investigator
Grant value: NZD 1,500,000
Funding agency: Ministry of Science and Innovation, New Zealand.
2007 - 2010 "Biomechanics for Animation"
Role: Principal Investigator
Grant value: NZD 1,000,000
Funding agency: Foundation for Research, Science and Technology, New Zealand.

Teaching | Current

ENGSCI772 Whole Organ Modelling (2005 - 2013)

Postgraduate supervision

Current

PhD

Hooman Zarreh, Integrating Material Point Method with Peridynamics
Nalaka Samaraweera, Modelling Heat and Sound Transmission through Structures
Elias Soltani, Modelling Thermoregulation of the Human Body
Yunru Ma (with Dr Yanxin Zhang ,Department of Exercise Sciences), Using Biomechanical simulation to predict treatment outcomes of cerebral palsy patients with equinus gait

Completed

PhD

Ted Yeung (2016), Inverse Kinematics of the Shoulder Complex
Massoud Alipour (2015), An Anatomically accurate Finite Element of Skeletal Muscle for Improved Characterisation of Muscle Deformation
Desney Greybe (2015), Forearm Mechanics and Its Implication on the Distal Radioulnar Joint
Tim Wu (2013), A Computational Framework for Modelling the Biomechanics of Human Facial Expressions
Alice Hung (2012), An Anatomically-based Biomechanics Model of the Face for Simulating Facial Expressions
Katja Oberhofer (2010), Anatomically-based, Subject-specific modelling of Lower Limb Motion During Gait

Wencke Hansen (2011), Three-dimensional Model of Tibio-Femoral Articulation
Jonguen Son (2010), Blood Flow Modelling in Deforming Skeletal Muscle
Sarah Cox (2007), Computational Ergonomics: An Anatomically-based Finite Element Model of the Lower Limbs in the Seated Posture

Responsibilities

Principal Investigator

Areas of expertise

Joint mechanics (upper limb kinematics involving shoulder complex, forearm and hand and lower limb involving gait analysis, foot and knee),
Finite and linear deformation analysis of biological and engineering structures,
Application of engineering principles to predict facial expressions using anatomically realistic and physically accurate mathematical models,
Computational fluid mechanics (dynamic flow modelling in circulatory system including cutaneous blood flow),
Finite element analysis
Finite difference methods
Mesh based particle methods (arbitrary Lagrangian-Eulerian)
Heat Transfer, thermal modelling of buildings and refrigeration and air-conditioning
Computational software development (CMISS and OpenCMISS)

Selected publications and creative works (Research Outputs)

Greybe, D., Boland, M. R., Wu, T., & Mithraratne, K. (2017). A finite element model to investigate the effect of ulnar variance on distal radioulnar joint mechanics. International journal for numerical methods in biomedical engineering, 33 (2).10.1002/cnm.2790
Other University of Auckland co-authors: Desney Greybe
Alipour, M., Mithraratne, K., & Fernandez, J. (2017). A diffusion-weighted imaging informed continuum model of the rabbit triceps surae complex. Biomechanics and Modeling in Mechanobiology10.1007/s10237-017-0916-4
Other University of Auckland co-authors: Massoud Alipour, Justin Fernandez
Safaei, S., Bradley, C. P., Suresh, V., Mithraratne, P., Muller, A., Ho, H., ... Chase, J. G. (2016). Roadmap for cardiovascular circulation model. The Journal of Physiology, 594 (23), 6909-6928. 10.1113/jp272660
Other University of Auckland co-authors: Peter Hunter, Harvey Ho, Soroush Safaei, Christopher Bradley, Vinod Suresh
Greybe, D., Boland, M. R., Wu, T., & Mithraratne, K. (2016). Examining the influence of distal radius orientation on distal radioulnar joint contact using a finite element model. International journal for numerical methods in biomedical engineering, 32 (11).10.1002/cnm.2766
Other University of Auckland co-authors: Desney Greybe, Michael Boland
Greybe, D., Boland, M. R., & Mithraratne, K. (2016). Vector-based forearm rotation moment arms - A sensitivity analysis. Medical engineering & physics, 38 (10), 1109-1114. 10.1016/j.medengphy.2016.07.012
Other University of Auckland co-authors: Desney Greybe
Matsui, H., Hunt, G. R., Oberhofer, K., Ogihara, N., McGowan, K. J., Mithraratne, K., ... Izawa, E.-I. (2016). Adaptive bill morphology for enhanced tool manipulation in New Caledonian crows. Scientific reports, 610.1038/srep22776
Shim, V. B., Besier, T. F., Lloyd, D. G., Mithraratne, K., & Fernandez, J. F. (2016). The influence and biomechanical role of cartilage split line pattern on tibiofemoral cartilage stress distribution during the stance phase of gait. Biomechanics and modeling in mechanobiology, 15 (1), 195-204. 10.1007/s10237-015-0668-y
Other University of Auckland co-authors: Vickie Shim, Thor Besier, Justin Fernandez
Greybe, D. G., Boland, M. R., & Mithraratne, P. (2016). Forearm kinematics and its consequence for muscle moment arms. Paper presented at 22nd Annual Scientific Meeting of the Australian & New Zealand Orthopaedic Research Society, Melbourne, Australia. 13 October - 15 October 2016.
Other University of Auckland co-authors: Desney Greybe