CT-derived finite element models to determine vertebral cortex strength

Ken G. Faulkner; Christopher E. Cann; Bruce H. Hasegawa

doi:10.1117/12.18905

1 July 1990 CT-derived finite element models to determine vertebral cortex strength

Ken G. Faulkner, Christopher E. Cann, Bruce H. Hasegawa

Proceedings Volume 1233, Medical Imaging IV: Image Processing; (1990) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.18905
Event: Medical Imaging '90, 1990, Newport Beach, CA, United States

Abstract

The contribution of the vertebral cortex to the strength of the vertebrae is unknown. Several researchers have attempted to estimate this contribution by mechanically testing excised vertebral specimens. We have addressed the problem by creating finite element models (FEM) of the lumbar spine from contiguous scan CT studies. Seventeen women with no evidence of spinal fracture were scanned on a commercial CT scanner along with a calibration phantom to allow accurate determination of spinal bone mineral density. Using interactive software techniques two vertebral FEM are created from each scan set one with the cortex intact and the second with the cortical shell removed. Each model was analyzed under compression using finite element software and the results were compared for the intact and no cortex cases. Removal of the cortical shell was found to significantly decrease vertebral strength an average of 15. 6 3. 0 (mean standard error of the mean) in our study (p 0. 001). The decrease was variable between patients and did not appear related to trabecular mineral density. In osteoporotic patients the cortical contribution to vertebral strength may be much greater than that reported for the normal women due to the accelerated loss of trabecular bone. 1.

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Ken G. Faulkner, Christopher E. Cann, and Bruce H. Hasegawa "CT-derived finite element models to determine vertebral cortex strength", Proc. SPIE 1233, Medical Imaging IV: Image Processing, (1 July 1990); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.18905

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