The Application of Digital Volume Correlation (DVC) to Evaluate Strain Predictions Generated by Finite Element Models of the Osteoarthritic Humeral Head

Abstract

Continuum-level finite element models (FEMs) of the humerus offer the ability to evaluate joint replacement designs preclinically; however, experimental validation of these models is critical to ensure accuracy. The objective of the current study was to quantify experimental full-field strain magnitudes within osteoarthritic (OA) humeral heads by combining mechanical loading with volumetric microCT imaging and digital volume correlation (DVC). The experimental data was used to evaluate the accuracy of corresponding FEMs. Six OA humeral head osteotomies were harvested from patients being treated with total shoulder arthroplasty and mechanical testing was performed within a microCT scanner. MicroCT images (33.5 lm isotropic voxels) were obtained in a pre-and post-loaded state and BoneDVC was used to quantify full-field experimental strains (% 1 mm nodal spacing, accuracy = 351 lstrain, precision = 518 lstrain). Continuum-level FEMs with two types of boundary conditions (BCs) were simulated: DVC-driven and force-driven. Accuracy of the FEMs was found to be sensitive to the BC simulated with better agreement found with the use of DVC-driven BCs (slope = 0.83, r 2 = 0.80) compared to force-driven BCs (slope = 0.22, r 2 = 0.12). This study quantified mechanical strain distributions within OA trabecular bone and demonstrated the importance of BCs to ensure the accuracy of predictions generated by corresponding FEMs.

A novel approach to evaluate the effects of artificial bone focal lesion on the three-dimensional strain distributions within the vertebral body

“…This DVC approach has been intensively used to evaluate the displacement and deformation in different bone structures (e.g. trabecular bone [35], porcine vertebrae [17], mouse tibia [36], human scapula [37], proximal humeral head [38] and femoral head [39]). While the DVC approach has a large potential, it is fundamental to optimise the value of the NS for each application by evaluating the uncertainties of the approach [31][32][33]40].…”

Comparison of clinical‐CT segmentation techniques for measuring subchondral bone cyst volume in glenohumeral osteoarthritis

“…Corresponding preoperative clinical-CT scans (GE Discovery CT750 HD, Milwaukee, WI, USA; pixel dimension 0.527–0.645 mm, slice thickness 1.25 mm, 120 kVp, 200 mA) for each patient were gathered retrospectively from patient charts. The micro-CT osteotomy was registered to the respective clinical-CT scan by iterative closest point registration of the bone [ 9 ]. This study was approved by the Health Sciences Research Ethics Board at Western University (HSREB# 113,023).…”

Digital volume correlation for the characterization of musculoskeletal tissues: Current challenges and future developments

“…Recently, more complex models of trabecular bone with heterogeneous material properties ( Knowles et al, 2021 ) or material nonlinearities ( Pena Fernandez et al, 2022 ) have also been validated with DVC data. Finally, the DVC has also been used to validate the outputs of homogenised FE models based on clinical CT images including the human proximal femur ( Ridzwan et al, 2018 ), scapula ( Kusins et al, 2020a ), humeral head ( Kusins et al, 2020b ), and vertebrae ( Jackman et al, 2016 ).…”