MUFIS: Muscle Fiber Simulator
1 What is MUFIS?
MUFIS is an add-on for Blender that simulates the growth of muscle fibers. It is based on the works of Lautenschlager (2015) and Hartstone-Rose, Perry, and Morrow (2012).
Originally, Lauteschlager proposed a method to simulate the growth of muscle fibers in a 3D model of theropod dinosaurs simulating the muscle fibers as a series of cylinders. However, the method was time consuming and required a lot of manual work and a good understanding of python scripting in Blender.
On the other hand, Hartstone-Rose proposed a method to estimate the bite force of mammals based on the cross-sectional area of the muscle fibers by considering the Physiological Cross-Sectional Area (PCSA) of the muscle fibers, the lenght of the moment arm of the muscle (the lines connecting the temporomandibular joint perpendicularly to the line of action of the muscle) and the distance between the bite point and the temporomandibular joint.
MUFIS combines both methods to simulate the growth of muscle fibers in a 3D model, not only of theropod dinosaurs but of any animal; and not only of the jaw muscles but of any muscle in the body. Additionally, in the case of the jaw muscles, MUFIS can estimate the bite force of the animal based on the method proposed by Hartstone-Rose.
2 What do you need to use MUFIS?
To use MUFIS you need to have Blender installed in your computer. You can download Blender from here. Since Blender 4.2, the add-ons where substituted by extensions, for this reason, there are two versions of MUFIS, one for Blender 4.1 and below and one for Blender 4.2 and above. Since the use of extensions is the new standard, future versions of MUFIS will be developed for Blender 4.2 and above, but the old versions will still be available for download.
2.1 How to Install MUFIS
2.1.1 Instructions for Blender 4.1 and Below
Download the MUFIS add-on from the GitHub repository.
Open Blender and navigate to
Edit > Preferences > Add-ons.Click on Install and select the downloaded file.
Activate the add-on by checking the box next to its name.
(Optional) Install pip in Blender to manage the required libraries. Open a terminal and run the following command:
/path/to/blender/4.1/python/bin/python3.9 -m ensurepipReplace
/path/to/blender/4.1/with the path to your Blender installation folder. For the default installation path on Windows, the command should look like this:cd C:\Program Files\Blender Foundation\Blender 4.1\4.1\python\bin\python3.9 -m ensurepipNote: Administrator privileges may be required.
Install the required libraries. Open a terminal and run the following command:
/path/to/blender/4.1/python/bin/python3.9 -m pip install numpy pandas matplotlibFor the default installation path on Windows, the command should look like this:
cd C:\Program Files\Blender Foundation\Blender 4.1\4.1\python\bin\python3.9 -m pip install numpy pandas matplotlibRestart Blender to apply the changes.
2.1.2 Instructions for Blender 4.2 and Above
- Download the MUFIS extension from the GitHub repository.
- Open Blender and navigate to
Edit > Preferences > Get Extensions. - Click on the upper right arrow and select
Install from disk. - Select the downloaded file and click on
Install. Blender will automatically install the extension and dependencies. - Activate the extension if it is not already enabled.
2.2 Differences between the add-on and the extension
The main difference between the add-on and the extension is the way they are installed. The add-on requires manual installation of the required libraries, while the extension automatically installs the dependencies. The extension version uses the plotly library to generate interactive plots, while the add-on uses matplotlib to generate static plots. For this reason, the plots generated by the extension are interactive and can be saved as HTML files and latter be embedded in web pages or exported to other formats like PNG or SVG. The add-on generates static plots that can be saved as PNG files.
