On validation of multibody musculoskeletal models

This paper reviews the opportunities to validate multibody musculoskeletal models in view of the current transition of musculoskeletal modelling from a research topic to a practical simulation tool in product design, healthcare and other important applications. This transition creates a new need for justification that the models are adequate representations of the systems they simulate.
The need for a consistent terminology and established standards is identified and knowledge from fields with a more progressed state-of-the-art in Verification and Validation is introduced.
A number of practical steps for improvement of the validation of multibody musculoskeletal models are pointed out and directions for future research in the field are proposed. It is our hope that a more structured approach to model validation can help to improve the credibility of musculoskeletal models.