title: Finite element analysis of patient-specific condyle fracture plates: a preliminary study.
abstract: Various patterns of internal fixation of mandibular condyle fractures have been proposed in the literature. This study investigates the stability of two patient-specific implants (PSIs) for the open reduction and internal fixation of a subcondylar fracture of the mandible. A subcondylar fracture of a mandible was simulated by a series of finite element models. These models contained approximately 1.2 million elements, were heterogeneous in bone material properties, and also modeled the muscles of mastication. Models were run assuming linear elasticity and isotropic material properties for bone. The stability and von Mises stresses of the simulated condylar fracture reduced with each of the PSIs were compared. The most stable of the plate configurations examined was PSI 1, which had comparable mechanical performance to a single 2.0 mm straight four-hole plate.
authors.affiliation: Department of OMFS, Westmead Hospital, Sydney, Australia ; Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, The Nepean Hospital, Kingswood, Sydney, Australia ; Computational Biomechanics Research Group, School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia.
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Aquilina
authors.affiliation: Surgical and Orthopaedic Research Laboratory, Prince of Wales Hospital, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
authors.forename: William C H
authors.initials: WC
authors.lastname: Parr
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, St. George Hospital Clinical School, University of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia ; School of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering, University of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
authors.forename: Uphar
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Chamoli
authors.affiliation: Computational Biomechanics Research Group, Zoology Division, School of Environmental and Rural Science, University of New England, Armidale, Australia.
authors.forename: Stephen
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Wroe
keywords: ORIF; condylar fractures; finite element analysis; patient-specific implant