Authors:
Alexander Tsouknidas
1
;
Nikolaos Michailidis
1
;
Kleovoulos Anagnostidis
1
and
Antonios Lontos
2
Affiliations:
1
Aristoteles University of Thessaloniki, Greece
;
2
Frederick University, Cyprus
Keyword(s):
Dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry, Femoral neck, FEM, Fragility fracture risks.
Related
Ontology
Subjects/Areas/Topics:
Agents
;
Artificial Intelligence
;
Bioinformatics
;
Biomedical Engineering
;
Enterprise Information Systems
;
Information Systems Analysis and Specification
;
Methodologies and Technologies
;
Model Design and Evaluation
;
Operational Research
;
Simulation
Abstract:
Osteoporosis is a clinically silent bone pathology usually manifesting in the form of fragility bone fractures. Due to the high morbidity of the disease, the association of noninvasive imaging techniques to the implicated risk factors, could serve as a valuable indicator for surgeons. In the present investigations, the evaluation of 30 patients femurs' bone mineral density was performed in vivo by Dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA), while the strength characteristics of the examined specimens were determined ex-vivo using uniaxial compression experiments. The obtained stress strain curves, reflect the mechanical properties of the femur while facilitating their correlation to the obtained DXA measurements. FEM simulations revealed critical stress values within the femoral neck, indicating which DXA values represent abnormal high fragility fracture risks and thus should be considered for surgical intervention.