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Updated: Jul 17, 2025
An Anesthesia, Surgery, and Harvest Method for the Evaluation of Transpedicular Screws Using an In Vivo Porcine Lumbar Spine Model
Published on: May 31, 2017
A Novel Methodology to Estimate Bone Mechanical Properties Using Dual-Energy Imaging to Improve Pedicle Screw
Carolina Solorzano Barrera1,2, Isabelle Villemure1,2,3, Carl-Éric Aubin1,2,3
1Institute of Biomedical Engineering, Polytechnique Montréal, Montréal, Canada.
Objective:
To develop a methodology to improve the representation of the mechanical properties of a vertebral finite element model (FEM) based on a new dual-energy (DE) imaging technology to improve pedicle screw fixation.
Methods:
Bone-calibrated radiographs were generated with dual-energy imaging technology in order to estimate the mechanical properties of the trabecular bone. Properties were included in regions of interest in four vertebral FEMs representing heterogeneity and homogeneity, as a realistic and reference model, respectively. Biomechanical parameters were measured during screw pull-out testing to evaluate pedicle screw fixation.
Results:
Simulations with property distributions deduced from dual-energy imaging characterization (heterogeneous models) induced an increase in biomechanical indicators versus with a homogeneous representation, implying different behaviors for the subject-specific models.
Conclusion:
The presented methodology allows a patient-specific representation of bone quality in a FEM using new DE imaging technology. Consideration of individualized bone distribution in a spinal FEM improves the perspective of orthopedic surgical planning over otherwise underestimated results using a homogeneous representation.
