Characterization of mechanical stiffness using additive manufacturing and finite element analysis: potential tool for bone health assessment
Abstract Background Bone health and fracture risk are known to be correlated with stiffness. Both micro-finite element analysis (μFEA) and mechanical testing of additive manufactured phantoms are useful approaches for estimating mechanical properties of trabecular bone-like structures. However, it i...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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BMC
2023-11-01
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| Series: | 3D Printing in Medicine |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1186/s41205-023-00197-5 |
| _version_ | 1797578066338250752 |
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| author | Sriharsha Marupudi Qian Cao Ravi Samala Nicholas Petrick |
| author_facet | Sriharsha Marupudi Qian Cao Ravi Samala Nicholas Petrick |
| author_sort | Sriharsha Marupudi |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Background Bone health and fracture risk are known to be correlated with stiffness. Both micro-finite element analysis (μFEA) and mechanical testing of additive manufactured phantoms are useful approaches for estimating mechanical properties of trabecular bone-like structures. However, it is unclear if measurements from the two approaches are consistent. The purpose of this work is to evaluate the agreement between stiffness measurements obtained from mechanical testing of additive manufactured trabecular bone phantoms and μFEA modeling. Agreement between the two methods would suggest 3D printing is a viable method for validation of μFEA modeling. Methods A set of 20 lumbar vertebrae regions of interests were segmented and the corresponding trabecular bone phantoms were produced using selective laser sintering. The phantoms were mechanically tested in uniaxial compression to derive their stiffness values. The stiffness values were also derived from in silico simulation, where linear elastic μFEA was applied to simulate the same compression and boundary conditions. Bland-Altman analysis was used to evaluate agreement between the mechanical testing and μFEA simulation values. Additionally, we evaluated the fidelity of the 3D printed phantoms as well as the repeatability of the 3D printing and mechanical testing process. Results We observed good agreement between the mechanically tested stiffness and μFEA stiffness, with R 2 of 0.84 and normalized root mean square deviation of 8.1%. We demonstrate that the overall trabecular bone structures are printed in high fidelity (Dice score of 0.97 (95% CI, [0.96,0.98]) and that mechanical testing is repeatable (coefficient of variation less than 5% for stiffness values from testing of duplicated phantoms). However, we noticed some defects in the resin microstructure of the 3D printed phantoms, which may account for the discrepancy between the stiffness values from simulation and mechanical testing. Conclusion Overall, the level of agreement achieved between the mechanical stiffness and μFEA indicates that our μFEA methods may be acceptable for assessing bone mechanics of complex trabecular structures as part of an analysis of overall bone health. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T22:17:24Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-fff6558d9eb14441bb1f7169abc2a49a |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2365-6271 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T22:17:24Z |
| publishDate | 2023-11-01 |
| publisher | BMC |
| record_format | Article |
| series | 3D Printing in Medicine |
| spelling | doaj.art-fff6558d9eb14441bb1f7169abc2a49a2023-11-19T12:25:00ZengBMC3D Printing in Medicine2365-62712023-11-019111510.1186/s41205-023-00197-5Characterization of mechanical stiffness using additive manufacturing and finite element analysis: potential tool for bone health assessmentSriharsha Marupudi0Qian Cao1Ravi Samala2Nicholas Petrick3Division of Imaging, Diagnostics, and Software Reliability, Office of Science and Engineering Labs, U.S. Food and Drug AdministrationDivision of Imaging, Diagnostics, and Software Reliability, Office of Science and Engineering Labs, U.S. Food and Drug AdministrationDivision of Imaging, Diagnostics, and Software Reliability, Office of Science and Engineering Labs, U.S. Food and Drug AdministrationDivision of Imaging, Diagnostics, and Software Reliability, Office of Science and Engineering Labs, U.S. Food and Drug AdministrationAbstract Background Bone health and fracture risk are known to be correlated with stiffness. Both micro-finite element analysis (μFEA) and mechanical testing of additive manufactured phantoms are useful approaches for estimating mechanical properties of trabecular bone-like structures. However, it is unclear if measurements from the two approaches are consistent. The purpose of this work is to evaluate the agreement between stiffness measurements obtained from mechanical testing of additive manufactured trabecular bone phantoms and μFEA modeling. Agreement between the two methods would suggest 3D printing is a viable method for validation of μFEA modeling. Methods A set of 20 lumbar vertebrae regions of interests were segmented and the corresponding trabecular bone phantoms were produced using selective laser sintering. The phantoms were mechanically tested in uniaxial compression to derive their stiffness values. The stiffness values were also derived from in silico simulation, where linear elastic μFEA was applied to simulate the same compression and boundary conditions. Bland-Altman analysis was used to evaluate agreement between the mechanical testing and μFEA simulation values. Additionally, we evaluated the fidelity of the 3D printed phantoms as well as the repeatability of the 3D printing and mechanical testing process. Results We observed good agreement between the mechanically tested stiffness and μFEA stiffness, with R 2 of 0.84 and normalized root mean square deviation of 8.1%. We demonstrate that the overall trabecular bone structures are printed in high fidelity (Dice score of 0.97 (95% CI, [0.96,0.98]) and that mechanical testing is repeatable (coefficient of variation less than 5% for stiffness values from testing of duplicated phantoms). However, we noticed some defects in the resin microstructure of the 3D printed phantoms, which may account for the discrepancy between the stiffness values from simulation and mechanical testing. Conclusion Overall, the level of agreement achieved between the mechanical stiffness and μFEA indicates that our μFEA methods may be acceptable for assessing bone mechanics of complex trabecular structures as part of an analysis of overall bone health.https://doi.org/10.1186/s41205-023-00197-5Trabecular boneAdditive manufacturingMicro–finite element analysisCompression testingMicro-computed tomographyBone microstructure |
| spellingShingle | Sriharsha Marupudi Qian Cao Ravi Samala Nicholas Petrick Characterization of mechanical stiffness using additive manufacturing and finite element analysis: potential tool for bone health assessment 3D Printing in Medicine Trabecular bone Additive manufacturing Micro–finite element analysis Compression testing Micro-computed tomography Bone microstructure |
| title | Characterization of mechanical stiffness using additive manufacturing and finite element analysis: potential tool for bone health assessment |
| title_full | Characterization of mechanical stiffness using additive manufacturing and finite element analysis: potential tool for bone health assessment |
| title_fullStr | Characterization of mechanical stiffness using additive manufacturing and finite element analysis: potential tool for bone health assessment |
| title_full_unstemmed | Characterization of mechanical stiffness using additive manufacturing and finite element analysis: potential tool for bone health assessment |
| title_short | Characterization of mechanical stiffness using additive manufacturing and finite element analysis: potential tool for bone health assessment |
| title_sort | characterization of mechanical stiffness using additive manufacturing and finite element analysis potential tool for bone health assessment |
| topic | Trabecular bone Additive manufacturing Micro–finite element analysis Compression testing Micro-computed tomography Bone microstructure |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1186/s41205-023-00197-5 |
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