Abstract:The present study aims to the design of a finite-element model simulating accurately the pullout behaviour of cylindrical pedicle screws and predicting their pullout force. Three commercial pedicle screws, subjected to pure pullout from synthetic bone, were studied experimentally. The results were used for the design, calibration and validation of a finite-element model. Special attention was paid to the accurate simulation of the failure inside the host material. For this purpose a bilinear cohesive zone material model was adopted to control mode-II debonding of neighbouring elements in the vicinity of the screw and simulate this way the failure in shear of the hosting material. Comparison between experimental and numerical results proved that the implementation of this method can significantly enhance the accuracy of the numerical simulation of a screw's mechanical behaviour under pure pullout loads. The numerical model was used for the parametric study of various factors affecting the pullout performance of a cylindrical pedicle screw. It was concluded that the major parameters influencing the pullout force is the outer radius and purchase length of the screw. Significantly weaker was the dependence of the screw's pullout force on its thread inclination, depth and pitch.

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Undertapping of a pilot-hole either using a tap or another screw can increase the pullout strength of self-tapping pedicle screws.

This study aims to develop a numerical method that can be used to investigate the cushioning properties of different insole materials on a subject-specific basis. Diabetic footwear and orthotic insoles play an important role for the reduction of plantar pressure in people with diabetes (type-2). Despite that, little information exists about their optimum cushioning properties. A new in-vivo measurement based computational procedure was developed which entails the generation of 2D subject-specific finite element models of the heel pad based on ultrasound indentation. These models are used to inverse engineer the material properties of the heel pad and simulate the contact between plantar soft tissue and a flat insole. After its validation this modelling procedure was utilised to investigate the importance of plantar soft tissue stiffness, thickness and loading for the correct selection of insole material. The results indicated that heel pad stiffness and thickness influence plantar pressure but not the optimum insole properties. On the other hand loading appears to significantly influence the optimum insole material properties. These results indicate that parameters that affect the loading of the plantar soft tissues such as body mass or a person's level of physical activity should be carefully considered during insole material selection.