Open Access

ARTICLE

Optimal Mass Distribution Prediction for Human Proximal Femur with Bi-modulus Property

Jiao Shi^∗, Kun Cai^∗, Qing H. Qin^†,‡

∗ College of Water Resources and Architectural Engineering, Northwest A&F University, Yangling 712100, P.R. China.
† Research School of Engineering, the Australian National University, ACT 2601, Australia.
‡ Corresponding author. E-mail: qinghua.qin@anu.edu.au

Molecular & Cellular Biomechanics 2014, 11(4), 235-248. https://doi.org/10.3970/mcb.2014.011.235

Abstract

Simulation of the mass distribution in a human proximal femur is important to provide a reasonable therapy scheme for a patient with osteoporosis. An algorithm is developed for prediction of optimal mass distribution in a human proximal femur under a given loading environment. In this algorithm, the bone material is assumed to be bi-modulus, i.e., the tension modulus is not identical to the compression modulus in the same direction. With this bi-modulus bone material, a topology optimization method, i.e., modified SIMP approach, is employed to determine the optimal mass distribution in a proximal femur. The effects of the difference between two moduli on the final material distribution are numerically investigated. Numerical results obtained show that the mass distribution in bi-modular bone materials is different from that in traditional isotropic material. As the tension modulus is less than the compression modulus for bone tissues, the amount of mass required to support tension loads is greater than that required by isotropic material for the same daily activities including one-leg stance, abduction and adduction.

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Keywords

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