Effect of fabric on the accuracy of computed tomography-based finite element analyses of the vertebra.

Effect of fabric on the accuracy of computed tomography-based finite element analyses of the vertebra. Biomech Model Mechanobiol. 2019 Sep 10;: Authors: Wu Y, Morgan EF Abstract Quantitative computed tomography (QCT)-based finite element (FE) models of the vertebra are widely used in studying spine biomechanics and mechanobiology, but their accuracy has not been fully established. Although the models typically assign material properties based only on local bone mineral density (BMD), the mechanical behavior of trabecular bone also depends on fabric. The goal of this study was to determine the effect of incorporating measurements of fabric on the accuracy of FE predictions of vertebral deformation. Accuracy was assessed by using displacement fields measured via digital volume correlation-applied to time-lapse microcomputed tomography (μCT)-as the gold standard. Two QCT-based FE models were generated from human L1 vertebrae (n = 11): the entire vertebral body and a cuboid-shaped portion of the trabecular centrum [dimensions: (20-30) × (15-20) × (15-20) mm3]. For axial compression boundary conditions, there was no difference (p = 0.40) in the accuracy of the FE-computed displacements for models using material properties based on local values of BMD versus those using material properties based on local values of fabric and volume fraction. However, when using BMD-based material properties, errors were higher for the v...
Source: Biomechanics and Modeling in Mechanobiology - Category: Biomedical Science Authors: Tags: Biomech Model Mechanobiol Source Type: research