title: Development of a parametric finite element model of the proximal femur using statistical shape and density modelling.
abstract: Skeletal fractures associated with bone mass loss are a major clinical problem and economic burden, and lead to significant morbidity and mortality in the ageing population. Clinical image-based measures of bone mass show only moderate correlative strength with bone strength. However, engineering models derived from clinical image data predict bone strength with significantly greater accuracy. Currently, image-based finite element (FE) models are time consuming to construct and are non-parametric. The goal of this study was to develop a parametric proximal femur FE model based on a statistical shape and density model (SSDM) derived from clinical image data. A small number of independent SSDM parameters described the shape and bone density distribution of a set of cadaver femurs and captured the variability affecting proximal femur FE strength predictions. Finally, a three-dimensional FE model of an 'unknown' femur was reconstructed from the SSDM with an average spatial error of 0.016 mm and an average bone density error of 0.037 g/cm(3).
authors.affiliation: Materials Engineering Department, Southwest Research Institute, 6220 Culebra Road, San Antonio, TX 78238-5166, USA.
authors.forename: Daniel P
authors.initials: DP
authors.lastname: Nicolella
authors.forename: Todd L
authors.initials: TL
authors.lastname: Bredbenner
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D005269:Femur / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D020342:Finite Element Analysis; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D008953:Models, Anatomic