Engineering Mechanics

Proceedings Vol. 20 (2014)

ENGINEERING MECHANICS 2014

Copyright © 2014 Brno University of Technology Institute of Solid Mechanics, Mechatronics and Biomechanics

 

Řehák K., Skallerud B.
pages 567 - 570, full text

The distraction osteogenesis has an important position in orthopedic surgery, and it is still object of research to get better understanding of bone healing. The response of callus bone to mechanical loading can be used for assessment of treatment progress. The mechanical strain distribution is often used for assessment in case of bone remodeling (Frost, 1994), thus it could provide additional information of fracture healing progress as well. The strength of the whole callus bone is significantly affected by architecture and tissue properties, which are very difficult to obtain. This article presents finite element analysis of bone fracture healing based on input information obtained from micro-CT scans. The objective of this study is to find which part of callus determines the maximal appropriate loading of whole callus. The four pieces of rabbit tibia fracture callus were micro-CT scanned 30 days after osteotomy using an isotropic voxel size of 20 μm. All finite element models were axially loaded to investigate the reaction force value for different segments of the callus. The mechanical strain distribution and reaction forces of callus were evaluated to compare the differences between each part of models. The results show that the present approach by using finite element method (FEM) is a useful tool in understanding and assessment of fracture healing process.

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