Review on the use of medical imaging in orthopedic biomechanics: finite element studies

Several medical imaging techniques are used in the orthopedic biomechanics field. These techniques provide the exact geometry, material properties, and the main parameters needed for bone tissue analysis. The most used imaging methods are Dual Energy X-ray Absorptiometry (DEXA), Computed Tomography (CT), Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), and Ultrasound (US). The accuracy of determined bone geometry and mechanical parameters depends on the ability of each technique to capture the hard tissue information and on the algorithms used to exploit theses information. In the current article, we review and compare some recent studies where medical imaging techniques have been combined with the FEM in other to investigate bone mechanical behavior under different external conditions. First, we start by a presentation of medical imaging techniques, then we explain how to get from medical scans to finite element models, and finally we discuss some studies developing finite element models based on medical imaging techniques.