title: Inter-individual variability of bone density and morphology distribution in the proximal femur and T12 vertebra.
abstract: Bone geometry, density and microstructure can vary widely between subjects. Knowledge about this variation in a population is of interest in particular for the design of orthopedic implants and interventions. The goal of this study is to investigate the local variability of bone density and microstructural parameters between subjects using a novel inter-subject image registration approach. Human proximal femora of 29 and T12 vertebrae of 20 individuals were scanned using a HR-pQCT and a micro-CT system, respectively. A pre-defined iso-anatomic mesh template was morphed to each micro-CT scan. For each element bone volume fraction and other morphological parameters (Tb.Th, Tb.N, Tb.Sp, SMI, DA) were determined and assigned to the element. A coefficient of variation (CV) was calculated for each parameter at each element location of the 29 femora and 20 T12 vertebrae. Contour plots of the CV distribution revealed very detailed information about the inter-individual variation in bone density and morphology. It is also shown that analyzing large sub-volumes, as commonly done in previous studies, would miss much of this variation. Detailed quantitative information of bone morphological parameters for each sample in the femur and the T12 database and their inter-individual variability are available from the mesh templates as supplementary data (http://w3.bmt.tue.nl/nl/fe_database/). We expect that these results can help to optimize implants and orthopedic procedures by taking local bone morphological parameter variations into account.
authors.affiliation: Orthopaedic Biomechanics, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Eindhoven University of Technology, Eindhoven, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Javad
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hazrati Marangalou
authors.affiliation: Orthopaedic Biomechanics, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Eindhoven University of Technology, Eindhoven, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Keita
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ito
authors.affiliation: Laboratorio di Tecnologia Medica, Istituti Ortopedici Rizzoli, Bologna, Italy.
authors.forename: Fulvia
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Taddei
authors.affiliation: Orthopaedic Biomechanics, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Eindhoven University of Technology, Eindhoven, The Netherlands. Electronic address: B.v.Rietbergen@tue.nl.
authors.forename: Bert
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: van Rietbergen
mesh_terms: D015502:Absorptiometry, Photon; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D015519:Bone Density / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D005269:Femur / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D013904:Thoracic Vertebrae / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000502:physiology*; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed
keywords: Bone microstructure; Inter-individual variability; Iso-anatomic mesh; Proximal femur; T12 vertebra