title: Proximal femoral growth plate mechanical behavior: Comparison between different developmental stages.
abstract: In long bones the growth plate is a cartilaginous structure located between the epiphysis and the diaphysis. This structure regulates longitudinal growth and helps determine the structure of mature bone through the process of endochondral ossification. During human growth the femur's proximal growth plate experiences changes in its morphology that may be related to its mechanical environment. Thus, in order to test this hypothesis from a computational perspective, a finite element analysis on a proximal femur was performed on which we modeled different physeal geometries corresponding to the shapes acquired for this structure in a child between the ages of five to eleven. Results show augmented Von Mises stress values with increasing irregularities in physeal geometry, whereas displacement decreased with increased irregularities in the growth plate's morphology. Such observations suggest that growth plate's shape changes follows a possible mechanical adaptation on imposed loads to sustain a person's increasing body mass during growth.
authors.affiliation: Biomimetics laboratory, Biotechnology Institute, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Bogotá, Colombia; Departament of Mechanical and Mechatronics Engineering, Numerical Methods and Modeling Group Research (GNUM), Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Bogotá, Colombia. Electronic address: hacastroa@unal.edu.co.
authors.forename: Héctor Alfonso
authors.initials: HA
authors.lastname: Castro-Abril
authors.affiliation: School of Medicine, Developmental Biology, Universidad El Bosque, Cra. 9 No. 131 A - 02 Edificio Fundadores Piso 5, Bogotá, Colombia. Electronic address: mlgutierrezg@unbosque.edu.co.
authors.forename: María Lucía
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Gutiérrez
authors.affiliation: Biomimetics laboratory, Biotechnology Institute, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Bogotá, Colombia; Departament of Mechanical and Mechatronics Engineering, Numerical Methods and Modeling Group Research (GNUM), Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Bogotá, Colombia. Electronic address: dagarzona@unal.edu.co.
authors.forename: Diego Alexander
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Garzón-Alvarado
mesh_terms: D001696:Biomechanical Phenomena / Q000502:physiology*; D002648:Child; D005269:Femur / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000502:physiology*; D020342:Finite Element Analysis; D006132:Growth Plate / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008954:Models, Biological
keywords: Finite element analysis; Growth plate; Growth plate development; Von Mises stress