Finite element method modeling of craniofacial growth

Area of Science:

• Biomechanical Engineering
• Craniofacial Biology
• Computational Mechanics

Background:

• Traditional roentgenographic cephalometry faces geometric constraints due to registration and superimposition methods.
• Describing craniofacial skeletal growth requires precise, invariant analytical techniques.

Purpose of the Study:

• To introduce a new method for describing craniofacial skeletal growth using continuum mechanics and the finite element method (FEM).
• To demonstrate the invariance and clinical potential of this novel analytical approach.

Main Methods:

• Application of continuum mechanics principles and finite element method (FEM) numerical techniques.
• Analysis of two-dimensional growth data from rat skulls using FEM.
• Considering cranial structures as numerous contiguous finite elements for detailed analysis.

Main Results:

• The FEM approach provides descriptions and analyses of craniofacial growth that are invariant to registration and superimposition.
• FEM allows for analysis at a finer scale than previously possible, detailing localized changes within cranial elements.
• Demonstrated the magnitude and direction of temporal size and shape changes within individual finite elements.

Conclusions:

• The developed FEM method offers a clinically useful, invariant approach to describing craniofacial skeletal growth.
• This method overcomes the principal geometric constraints of conventional roentgenographic cephalometry.
• FEM enables highly detailed, localized, and reference-frame-independent analysis of skull development.