A nonlinear QCT-based finite element model validation study for the human femur tested in two configurations in vitro

Dall'Ara, E.; Luisier, B.; Schmidt, R.; Kainberger, F.; Zysset, Philippe; Pahr, D. (2013). A nonlinear QCT-based finite element model validation study for the human femur tested in two configurations in vitro. Bone, 52(1), pp. 27-38. Elsevier 10.1016/j.bone.2012.09.006

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Purpose

Femoral fracture is a common medical problem in osteoporotic individuals. Bone mineral density (BMD) is the gold standard measure to evaluate fracture risk in vivo. Quantitative computed tomography (QCT)-based homogenized voxel finite element (hvFE) models have been proved to be more accurate predictors of femoral strength than BMD by adding geometrical and material properties. The aim of this study was to evaluate the ability of hvFE models in predicting femoral stiffness, strength and failure location for a large number of pairs of human femora tested in two different loading scenarios.

Methods

Thirty-six pairs of femora were scanned with QCT and total proximal BMD and BMC were evaluated. For each pair, one femur was positioned in one-legged stance configuration (STANCE) and the other in a sideways configuration (SIDE). Nonlinear hvFE models were generated from QCT images by reproducing the same loading configurations imposed in the experiments. For experiments and models, the structural properties (stiffness and ultimate load), the failure location and the motion of the femoral head were computed and compared.

Results

In both configurations, hvFE models predicted both stiffness (R2=0.82 for STANCE and R2=0.74 for SIDE) and femoral ultimate load (R2=0.80 for STANCE and R2=0.85 for SIDE) better than BMD and BMC. Moreover, the models predicted qualitatively well the failure location (66% of cases) and the motion of the femoral head.

Conclusions

The subject specific QCT-based nonlinear hvFE model cannot only predict femoral apparent mechanical properties better than densitometric measures, but can additionally provide useful qualitative information about failure location.

Item Type:	Journal Article (Original Article)
Division/Institute:	04 Faculty of Medicine > Pre-clinic Human Medicine > Institute for Surgical Technology & Biomechanics ISTB [discontinued]
UniBE Contributor:	Zysset, Philippe
Subjects:	500 Science > 570 Life sciences; biology 600 Technology > 610 Medicine & health 600 Technology > 620 Engineering
ISSN:	8756-3282
Publisher:	Elsevier
Language:	English
Submitter:	Philippe Zysset
Date Deposited:	12 May 2014 09:34
Last Modified:	05 Dec 2022 14:30
Publisher DOI:	10.1016/j.bone.2012.09.006
URI:	https://boris.unibe.ch/id/eprint/45344