Deformation analysis of the human femur by holographic interferometry

The deformations of the neck and head of the human dried femur were measured and analyzed with loads applied at the femoral head. Particular attention was paid to measurements of bones with osteoporosis. We used double exposures or real-time holographic interferometry to measure precisely. The distal part of each femur was embedded in super hard plaster, and the load was applied at the femoral head. In order to better simulate the situation of a femur under physiological muscles, we used the 3D finite element method (FEM) for our analyses. After modeling the femur, which consisted of meshing as eight noded elements for each section of diaphysis, we used the 3D FEM to calculate stress and strain. We obtained the following results: (1) the deformations increased with the progress of osteoporosis;(2) femur with osteoporosis showed obvious rotational components in the femoral shaft and (3) a compressive stress distribution could be found at the medial side of the diaphyseal region by using the FEM.