Determining Young’s Modulus of Elasticity of Cortical Bone from CT Scans

Abstract

The finite element method has found great application in the field of biomedical engineering due to the ability to utilize such method for analysis of the problems that include complex geometries. The results of the numerical simulations, apart from the precise geometry, significantly depend on the defined boundary conditions as well as on the applied material properties. The aim of this chapter was to determine Young’s modulus of elasticity of three cortical bones (femur, tibia, and vertebra) when the bone is considered to be an isotropic material. Calculation of the elasticity modulus was performed using computed tomography images. Additionally, the effect of different values of elasticity modulus is demonstrated using the results of three finite element analyses of femoral bone mechanical behavior. The computed tomography images were additionally used to create a patient-specific 3D model of the femoral bone. The numerical simulations aimed to show the influence of the elastic modulus on the stress and displacement distribution and state the importance of the appropriate elasticity modulus.