Multiscale investigation of the functional properties of the human femur |
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Authors: | Cristofolini Luca Taddei Fulvia Baleani Massimiliano Baruffaldi Fabio Stea Susanna Viceconti Marco |
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Affiliation: | Laboratorio di Tecnologia Medica, Istituto Ortopedico Rizzoli, Via di Barbiano, 1/10, 40136 Bologna, Italy Engineering Faculty, University of Bologna, 40126 Bologna, Italy. |
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Abstract: | The mechanical strength of human bones has often been investigated in the past. Bone failure is related to musculoskeletal loading, tissue properties, bone metabolism, etc. This is intrinsically a multiscale problem. However, organ-level performance in most cases is investigated as a separate problem, incorporating only part (if any) of the information available at a higher scale (body level) or at a lower one (tissue level, cell level). A multiscale approach is proposed, where models available at different levels are integrated. A middle-out strategy is taken: the main model to be investigated is at the organ level. The organ-level model incorporates as an input the outputs from the body-level (musculoskeletal loads), tissue-level (constitutive equations) and cell-level models (bone remodelling). In this paper, this approach is exemplified by a clinically relevant application: fractures of the proximal femur. We report how a finite-element model of the femur (organ level) becomes part of a multiscale model. A significant effort is related to model validation: a number of experiments were designed to quantify the model's sensitivity and accuracy. When possible, the clinical accuracy and the clinical impact of a model should be assessed. Whereas a large amount of information is available at all scales, only organ-level models are really mature in this perspective. More work is needed in the future to integrate all levels fully, while following a sound scientific method to assess the relevance and validity of such an integrated model. |
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