title: European Society of Biomechanics S.M. Perren Award 2014: Safety factor of the proximal femur during gait: a population-based finite element study.
abstract: It has been suggested that the mechanical competence of the proximal femur is preserved with respect to physiological loading conditions rather than accidental overloading, but the consequences of this adaptation for fracture risk in the elderly remain unclear. The goal of the present study was to analyse the safety factor of the human femur in the two most frequent daily activities, level walking and stair climbing, and to understand the dependence, if any, of this safety factor on age, volumetric bone mineral density (vBMD), and gender. To this aim, a finite element study was performed on 200 subjects (116 women and 84 men), spanning a large range of age (23-84 years) and vBMD levels (T-score from 0 to -3.59). For the first time, finite element models that included a subject-specific description of the anatomy and mineral density distribution of each bone were coupled with a personalisation of the loads acting on the proximal femur during movement, including the action of the muscles and their variability across the population. The results demonstrate that the human proximal femur is characterised by a high safety factor (on average five, never reaching fracture threshold), even in the presence of advanced age and low mineral content. These results corroborate the hypothesis that the relationship between loading and mechanical competence is generally preserved in the elderly population for the most frequent motor activities, walking and stair climbing. Interestingly, a decrease of the safety factor was observed with increasing lifespan and reduced mineral content in women but not in men.
authors.affiliation: Laboratorio di Tecnologia Medica, Istituto Ortopedico Rizzoli, Bologna, Italy. Electronic address: taddei@tecno.ior.it.
authors.forename: Fulvia
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Taddei
authors.affiliation: Laboratorio di Tecnologia Medica, Istituto Ortopedico Rizzoli, Bologna, Italy.
authors.forename: Ilaria
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Palmadori
authors.affiliation: Institute for Biomechanics, ETH Zürich, Switzerland.
authors.forename: William R
authors.initials: WR
authors.lastname: Taylor
authors.affiliation: Bioengineering Research Group, University of Southampton, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Markus O
authors.initials: MO
authors.lastname: Heller
authors.affiliation: Laboratorio di Tecnologia Medica, Istituto Ortopedico Rizzoli, Bologna, Italy.
authors.forename: Barbara
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Bordini
authors.affiliation: Laboratorio di Tecnologia Medica, Istituto Ortopedico Rizzoli, Bologna, Italy.
authors.forename: Aldo
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Toni
authors.affiliation: Laboratorio di Bioingegneria Computazionale, Istituto Ortopedico Rizzoli, Bologna, Italy.
authors.forename: Enrico
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Schileo
mesh_terms: D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology*; D001363:Awards and Prizes; D001696:Biomechanical Phenomena / Q000502:physiology; D015519:Bone Density / Q000502:physiology; D005060:Europe; D005260:Female; D005264:Femoral Fractures / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D005269:Femur / Q000502:physiology*; D020342:Finite Element Analysis; D005684:Gait / Q000502:physiology*; D049674:History, 21st Century; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012307:Risk Factors; D012737:Sex Factors; D012955:Societies, Medical / Q000266:history*; D016474:Weight-Bearing / Q000502:physiology
keywords: Biomechanics; Bone strength; Finite-element analysis; Proximal femur; Skeletal loading