A Density-Dependent Target Stimulus for Inverse Bone (Re)modeling with Homogenized Finite Element Models

Area of Science:

• Biomechanics
• Computational modeling
• Bone physiology

Background:

• Inverse bone remodeling (IBR) infers physiological loads from bone microstructure.
• Micro-FE (µFE) analysis is computationally intensive for IBR.
• Homogenized FE (hFE) models offer a computationally efficient alternative.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the efficacy of hFE models for IBR.
• To introduce a new continuum-level target stimulus for hFE-based IBR.
• To compare hFE-based IBR predictions with µFE-based IBR.

Main Methods:

• Developed a new continuum-level target stimulus.
• Applied hFE models to 21 distal radii sections.
• Compared hFE-based IBR predictions to µFE-based IBR.

Main Results:

• hFE models correctly identified dominant load direction.
• High correlation observed between predicted and actual forces.
• Mean magnitude errors ranged from -14.7% to 26.6%.

Conclusions:

• hFE-based IBR provides faster predictions than µFE-based IBR.
• hFE models enable more sophisticated boundary conditions and use of clinical images.
• µFE-based IBR remains the gold standard, but hFE-based IBR shows promise.