scholarly journals Experimental Validation of a Voxel-Based Finite Element Model Simulating Femoroplasty of Lytic Lesions in the Proximal Femur

Author(s):  
Amelie Sas ◽  
An Sermon ◽  
G. Harry van Lenthe

Abstract Femoroplasty is a procedure where bone cement is injected percutaneously into a weakened proximal femur. Uncertainty exists whether femoroplasty provides sufficient mechanical strengthening to prevent fractures in patients with femoral bone metastases. Finite element models are promising tools to evaluate the mechanical effectiveness of femoroplasty, but a thorough validation is required. This study validated a voxel-based finite element model against experimental data from eight pairs of human cadaver femurs with artificial metastatic lesions. One femur from each pair was left untreated, while the contralateral femur was augmented with bone cement. Finite element models accurately predicted the femoral strength in the defect (R² = 0.96) and augmented (R² = 0.93) femurs. The modelled surface strain distributions showed a good qualitative match with results from digital image correlation; yet, quantitatively, only moderate correlation coefficients were found for the defect (mean R² = 0.78) and augmented (mean R² = 0.76) femurs. This was attributed to the presence of vessel holes in the femurs and the jagged surface representation of our voxel-based models. Despite some inaccuracies in the surface measurements, the FE models accurately predicted the global bone strength and qualitative deformation behavior, both before and after femoroplasty. Hence, they can offer a useful biomechanical tool to assist clinicians in assessing the need for prophylactic augmentation in patients with metastatic bone disease, as well as in identifying suitable patients for femoroplasty.

Author(s):  
Ievgen Levadnyi ◽  
Jan Awrejcewicz ◽  
Yan Zhang ◽  
Yaodong Gu

Bone fracture, formation and adaptation are related to mechanical strains in bone. Assessing bone stiffness and strain distribution under different loading conditions may help predict diseases and improve surgical results by determining the best conditions for long-term functioning of bone-implant systems. In this study, an experimentally wide range of loading conditions (56) was used to cover the directional range spanned by the hip joint force. Loads for different stance configurations were applied to composite femurs and assessed in a material testing machine. The experimental analysis provides a better understanding of the influence of the bone inclination angle in the frontal and sagittal planes on strain distribution and stiffness. The results show that the surface strain magnitude and stiffness vary significantly under different loading conditions. For the axial compression, maximal bending is observed at the mid-shaft, and bone stiffness is also maximal. The increased inclination leads to decreased stiffness and increased magnitude of maximum strain at the distal end of the femur. For comparative analysis of results, a three-dimensional, finite element model of the femur was used. To validate the finite element model, strain gauges and digital image correlation system were employed. During validation of the model, regression analysis indicated robust agreement between the measured and predicted strains, with high correlation coefficient and low root-mean-square error of the estimate. The results of stiffnesses obtained from multi-loading conditions experiments were qualitatively compared with results obtained from a finite element analysis of the validated model of femur with the same multi-loading conditions. When the obtained numerical results are qualitatively compared with experimental ones, similarities can be noted. The developed finite element model of femur may be used as a promising tool to estimate proximal femur strength and identify the best conditions for long-term functioning of the bone-implant system in future study.


2010 ◽  
Vol 133 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
A. S. Dickinson ◽  
A. C. Taylor ◽  
H. Ozturk ◽  
M. Browne

Computational biomechanical models are useful tools for supporting orthopedic implant design and surgical decision making, but because they are a simplification of the clinical scenario they must be carefully validated to ensure that they are still representative. The goal of this study was to assess the validity of the generation process of a structural finite element model of the proximal femur employing the digital image correlation (DIC) strain measurement technique. A finite element analysis model of the proximal femur subjected to gait loading was generated from a CT scan of an analog composite femur, and its predicted mechanical behavior was compared with an experimental model. Whereas previous studies have employed strain gauging to obtain discreet point data for validation, in this study DIC was used for full field quantified comparison of the predicted and experimentally measured strains. The strain predicted by the computational model was in good agreement with experimental measurements, with R2 correlation values from 0.83 to 0.92 between the simulation and the tests. The sensitivity and repeatability of the strain measurements were comparable to or better than values reported in the literature for other DIC tests on tissue specimens. The experimental-model correlation was in the same range as values obtained from strain gauging, but the DIC technique produced more detailed, full field data and is potentially easier to use. As such, the findings supported the validity of the model generation process, giving greater confidence in the model’s predictions, and digital image correlation was demonstrated as a useful tool for the validation of biomechanical models.


Author(s):  
Ramakrishnan Maruthayappan ◽  
Hamid M. Lankarani

Abstract The behavior of structures under the impact or crash situations demands an efficient modeling of the system for its behavior to be predicted close to practical situations. The various formulations that are possible to model such systems are spring mass models, finite element models and plastic hinge models. Of these three techniques, the plastic hinge theory offers a more accurate model compared to the spring mass formulation and is much simpler than the finite element models. Therefore, it is desired to model the structure using plastic hinges and to use a computational program to predict the behavior of structures. In this paper, the behavior of some simple structures, ranging from an elementary cantilever beam to a torque box are predicted. It is also shown that the plastic hinge theory is a reliable method by comparing the results obtained from a plastic hinge model of an aviation seat structure with that obtained from a finite element model.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zwelihle Ndlovu ◽  
Dawood Desai ◽  
Thanyani Pandelani ◽  
Harry Ngwangwa ◽  
Fulufhelo Nemavhola

This study assesses the modelling capabilities of four constitutive hyperplastic material models to fit the experimental data of the porcine sclera soft tissue. It further estimates the material parameters and discusses their applicability to a finite element model by examining the statistical dispersion measured through the standard deviation. Fifteen sclera tissues were harvested from porcine’ slaughtered at an abattoir and were subjected to equi-biaxial testing. The results show that all the four material models yielded very good correlations at correlations above 96 %. The polynomial (anisotropic) model gave the best correlation of 98 %. However, the estimated material parameters varied widely from one test to another such that there would be needed to normalise the test data to avoid long optimisation processes after applying the average material parameters to finite element models. However, for application of the estimated material parameters to finite element models, there would be needed to consider normalising the test data to reduce the search region for the optimisation algorithms. Although the polynomial (anisotropic) model yielded the best correlation, it was found that the Choi-Vito had the least variation in the estimated material parameters thereby making it an easier option for application of its material parameters to a finite element model and also requiring minimum effort in the optimisation procedure. For the porcine sclera tissue, it was found that the anisotropy more influenced by the fiber-related properties than the background material matrix related properties.


Author(s):  
Lý Hùng Anh ◽  
Nguyễn Phụ Thượng Lưu ◽  
Nguyễn Thiên Phú ◽  
Trần Đình Nhật

The experimental method used in a frontal crash of cars costs much time and expense. Therefore, numerical simulation in crashworthiness is widely applied in the world. The completed car models contain a lot of parts which provided complicated structure, especially the rear of car models do not contribute to behavior of frontal crash which usually evaluates injuries of pedestrian or motorcyclist. In order to save time and resources, a simplification of the car models for research simulations is essential with the goal of reducing approximately 50% of car model elements and nodes. This study aims to construct the finite element models of front structures of vehicle based on the original finite element models. Those new car models must be maintained important values such as mass and center of gravity position. By using condition boundaries, inertia moment is kept unchanged on new model. The original car models, which are provided by the National Crash Analysis Center (NCAC), validated by using results from experimental crash tests. The modified (simplistic) vehicle FE models are validated by comparing simulation results with experimental data and simulation results of the original vehicle finite element models. LS-Dyna software provides convenient tools and very strong to modify finite element model. There are six car models reconstructed in this research, including 1 Pick-up, 2 SUV and 3 Sedan. Because car models were not the main object to evaluate in a crash, energy and behavior of frontal part have the most important role. As a result, six simplified car models gave reasonable outcomes and reduced significantly the number of nodes and elements. Therefore, the simulation time is also reduced a lot. Simplified car models can be applied to the upcoming frontal simulations.


Author(s):  
Stefan Lammens ◽  
Marc Brughmans ◽  
Jan Leuridan ◽  
Ward Heylen ◽  
Paul Sas

Abstract This paper presents two applications of the RADSER model updating technique (Lammens et al. (1995) and Larsson (1992)). The RADSER technique updates finite element model parameters by solution of a linearised set of equations that optimise the Reduced Analytical Dynamic Stiffness matrix based on Experimental Receptances. The first application deals with the identification of the dynamic characteristics of rubber mounts. The second application validates a coarse finite element model of a subframe of a Volvo 480.


Author(s):  
Mostafa Habibi ◽  
Ramin Hashemi ◽  
Ahmad Ghazanfari ◽  
Reza Naghdabadi ◽  
Ahmad Assempour

Forming limit diagram is often used as a criterion to predict necking initiation in sheet metal forming processes. In this study, the forming limit diagram was obtained through the inclusion of the Marciniak–Kaczynski model in the Nakazima out-of-plane test finite element model and also a flat model. The effect of bending on the forming limit diagram was investigated numerically and experimentally. Data required for this simulation were determined through a simple tension test in three directions. After comparing the results of the flat and Nakazima finite element models with the experimental results, the forming limit diagram computed by the Nakazima finite element model was more convenient with less than 10% at the lower level of the experimental forming limit diagram.


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