--- a
+++ b/MATLAB/private/isBodyInModel.m
@@ -0,0 +1,50 @@
+%-------------------------------------------------------------------------%
+% Copyright (c) 2019 Modenese L.                                          %
+%                                                                         %
+% Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");         %
+% you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.        %
+% You may obtain a copy of the License at                                 %
+% http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0.                             %
+%                                                                         % 
+% Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software     %
+% distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,       %
+% WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or         %
+% implied. See the License for the specific language governing            %
+% permissions and limitations under the License.                          %
+%                                                                         %
+%    Author:   Luca Modenese                                              %
+%    email:    l.modenese@imperial.ac.uk                                  % 
+% ----------------------------------------------------------------------- %
+% This script checks if a body of interest is included in an OpenSim model.
+%
+% INPUTS:
+%       - osimModel: an OpenSim model as API object.
+%       - bone_of_interest: a string with the name of the body of interest.
+%
+% OUTPUT:
+%       - out: a flag. Flag value 1 means test is passed, otherwise the script 
+%           throws an error.
+%
+% last modified: 
+% 23 Jun 2017: comments (LM).
+% 16 Feb 2018: changed function name (LM). 
+% 29 Nov 2018: changed name, recommented, included in MFD toolbox (LM). 
+% ----------------------------------------------------------------------- %
+function out = isBodyInModel(osimModel, aBodyName)
+
+% load Library
+import org.opensim.modeling.*;
+
+% check if a body with the specified name is part of model.
+if osimModel.getBodySet.getIndex(aBodyName)<0
+    
+    % throws error if body is not part of the model
+    error(['isBodyInModel.m  The body ',aBodyName,' is not included in the OpenSim model.'])
+
+else
+    
+    out = 1;
+    return
+end
+
+end
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