Potential of in vivo MRI-based nonlinear finite-element analysis for the assessment of trabecular bone post-yield properties

Purpose: Bone strength is the key factor impacting fracture risk. Assessment of bone strength from high-resolution (HR) images have largely relied on linear micro-finite element analysis (mu FEA) even though failure always occurs beyond the yield point, which is outside the linear regime. Nonlinear mu FEA may therefore be more informative in predicting failure behavior. However, existing nonlinear models applied to trabecular bone (TB) have largely been confined to micro-computed tomography (mu CT) and, more recently, HR peripheral quantitative computed tomography (HR-pQCT) images, and typically have ignored evaluation of the post-yield behavior. The primary purpose of this work was threefold: (1) to provide an improved algorithm and program to assess TB yield as well as post-yield properties; (2) to explore the potential benefits of nonlinear mu FEA beyond its linear counterpart; and (3) to assess the feasibility and practicality of performing nonlinear analysis on desktop computers on the basis of micro-magnetic resonance (mu MR) images obtained in vivo in patients. Methods: A method for nonlinear mu FE modeling of TB yield as well as post-yield behavior has been designed where material nonlinearity is captured by adjusting the tissue modulus iteratively according to the tissue-level effective strain obtained from linear analysis using a computationally optimized algorithm. The software allows for images at in vivo mu MRI resolution as input with retention of grayscale information. Associations between axial stiffness estimated from linear analysis and yield as well as post-yield parameters from nonlinear analysis were investigated from in vivo mu MR images of the distal tibia (N = 20; ages: 58-84) and radius (N = 20; ages: 50-75). Results: All simulations were completed in 1 h or less for 61 strain levels using a desktop computer (dual quad-core Xeon 3.16 GHz CPUs equipped with 40 GB of RAM). Although yield stress and ultimate stress correlated strongly (R-2 > 0.95, p < 0.001) with axial stiffness, toughness correlated moderately at the distal tibia (R-2 = 0.81, p < 0.001) and only weakly at the distal radius (R-2 = 0.34, p = 0.007). Further, toughness was found to vary by up to 16% for bone of very similar axial stiffness (< 2%). Conclusions: The work demonstrates the practicality of nonlinear mu FE simulations at in vivo mu MRI resolution, as well as its potential for providing additional information beyond that obtainable from linear analysis. The data suggest that a direct assessment of toughness may provide information not captured by stiffness. (c) 2013 American Association of Physicists in Medicine.