Experimental Validation of Finite Element Analysis of Human Vertebral Collapse Under Large Compressive Strains

Hosseini, Hadi S.; Clouthier, Allison L.; Zysset, Philippe K. (2014). Experimental Validation of Finite Element Analysis of Human Vertebral Collapse Under Large Compressive Strains. Journal of biomechanical engineering, 136(4) American Society of Mechanical Engineers ASME 10.1115/1.4026409

Full text not available from this repository. (Request a copy)

Osteoporosis-related vertebral fractures represent a major health problem in elderly populations. Such fractures can often only be diagnosed after a substantial deformation history of the vertebral body. Therefore, it remains a challenge for clinicians to distinguish between stable and progressive potentially harmful fractures. Accordingly, novel criteria for selection of the appropriate conservative or surgical treatment are urgently needed. Computer tomography-based finite element analysis is an increasingly accepted method to predict the quasi-static vertebral strength and to follow up this small strain property longitudinally in time. A recent development in constitutive modeling allows us to simulate strain localization and densification in trabecular bone under large compressive strains without mesh dependence. The aim of this work was to validate this recently developed constitutive model of trabecular bone for the prediction of strain localization and densification in the human vertebral body subjected to large compressive deformation. A custom-made stepwise loading device mounted in a high resolution peripheral computer tomography system was used to describe the progressive collapse of 13 human vertebrae under axial compression. Continuum finite element analyses of the 13 compression tests were realized and the zones of high volumetric strain were compared with the experiments. A fair qualitative correspondence of the strain localization zone between the experiment and finite element analysis was achieved in 9 out of 13 tests and significant correlations of the volumetric strains were obtained throughout the range of applied axial compression. Interestingly, the stepwise propagating localization zones in trabecular bone converged to the buckling locations in the cortical shell. While the adopted continuum finite element approach still suffers from several limitations, these encouraging preliminary results towardsthe prediction of extended vertebral collapse may help in assessing fracture stability in future work.

Item Type:	Journal Article (Original Article)
Division/Institute:	04 Faculty of Medicine > Pre-clinic Human Medicine > Institute for Surgical Technology & Biomechanics ISTB [discontinued]
Graduate School:	Graduate School for Cellular and Biomedical Sciences (GCB)
UniBE Contributor:	Seyed Hosseini, Hadi, Clouthier, Allison Loretta, Zysset, Philippe
Subjects:	500 Science > 570 Life sciences; biology 600 Technology > 610 Medicine & health 600 Technology > 620 Engineering
ISSN:	0148-0731
Publisher:	American Society of Mechanical Engineers ASME
Language:	English
Submitter:	Philippe Zysset
Date Deposited:	06 Oct 2014 14:45
Last Modified:	05 Dec 2022 14:34
Publisher DOI:	10.1115/1.4026409
PubMed ID:	24384581
URI:	https://boris.unibe.ch/id/eprint/52363