Patient-specific static structural analysis of femur bone of different lengths

Background: The femur bone is an essential part of human activity, providing stability and support in carrying out our day to day activities. The inter-human anatomical variation and load bearing ability of humans of different heights will provide the necessary understanding of their functional ability. Objective: In this study, femur bone of two humans of different lengths (tall femur and short femur) were subjected to static structural loading conditions to evaluate their load-bearing abilities using Finite Element Analysis. Methods: The 3D models of femur bones were developed using MIMICS from the CT scans which were then subjected to static structural analysis by varying the load from 1000N to 8000N. The von Mises stress and deformation were captured to compare the performance of each of the femur bones. Results: The tall femur resulted in reduced Von-Mises stress and total deformation when compared to the short femur. However, the maximum principle stresses showed an increase with an increase in the bone length. In both the femurs, the maximum stresses were observed in the medullary region. Conclusion: When the applied load exceeds 10 times the body weight of the person, the tall femur model exceeded 134 MPa stress value. The short femur model failed at 9 times the body weight, indicating that the tall femur had higher load-bearing abilities.