Research interests
My overarching research theme is the development of a translational approach to improved understanding and treatment of osteoarthritis (OA). This encompasses the initiation and progression of early post-traumatic OA and understanding and treatment of late-stage OA, with the primary objective of improving diagnostic and therapeutic patient care. In pursuit of this objective, I use novel imaging techniques to develop imaging biomarkers to determine early OA related joint changes and to understand characteristics and treatment of late-stage OA. Imaging is coupled with experimental biomechanical testing to develop validated computational models to further understand mechanistic pathways leading to joint degeneration.
Graduate supervision and student opportunities
- Research volunteer
- Undergraduate thesis
- MSc thesis
Please email me to discuss current available opportunities.
Graduate studies application details
Teaching, expertise, tools and technologies
- Upper-extremity biomechanics
- Orthopaedic biomechanics
- Osteoarthritis
- Computational modeling
- Imaging
Courses
KIN 470: Seminar in Kinesiology
KIN 221: Advanced Biomechanics of Human Movement
KIN 613: Modern Methods of Biomechanical Modeling, Kinematics, and Kinetics
Education
BEng, Carleton University
MESc, Western University
PhD, Western University
PDF, University of Calgary
Selected publications
See Google Scholar for full list of publications.
de Bakker, C. M., Knowles, N. K., Walker, R. E., Manske, S. L., & Boyd, S. K. (2022). Independent changes in bone mineralized and marrow soft tissues following acute knee injury require dual-energy or high-resolution computed tomography for accurate assessment of bone mineral density and stiffness. Journal of the Mechanical Behavior of Biomedical Materials, 127, 105091;
Knowles, N. K., Kusins, J., Columbus, M. P., Athwal, G. S., & Ferreira, L. M. (2021). Experimental DVC validation of heterogeneous micro finite element models applied to subchondral trabecular bone of the humeral head. Journal of Orthopaedic Research®;
Knowles, N. K., Whittier, D. E., Besler, B. A., & Boyd, S. K. (2021). Proximal tibia bone stiffness and strength in HR-pQCT-and QCT-based finite element models. Annals of Biomedical Engineering, 49(9), 2389-2398
Knowles, N. K., Kusins, J., Columbus, M. P., Athwal, G. S., & Ferreira, L. M. (2020). Morphological and apparent-level stiffness variations between normal and osteoarthritic bone in the humeral head. Journal of Orthopaedic Research®, 38(3), 503-509
Knowles, N. K., Kusins, J., Faieghi, M., Ryan, M., Dall’Ara, E., & Ferreira, L. M. (2019). Material mapping of QCT-derived scapular models: a comparison with micro-CT loaded specimens using digital volume correlation. Annals of biomedical engineering, 47(11), 2188-2198