with IS & MG
Recently, novel diagnostic tools have been developed to predict the mechanical strength of distal bone sections using homogenized finite elements (hFE) based on high-resolution peripheral computed tomography (HR-pQCT). These tools have lowered repeatability errors for improved longitudinal assessments compared to the gold standard dual X-ray absorptiometry (DXA). The average spatial distribution of bone damage induced by compressive overloading was recently evaluated in a large healthy cohort (n=381, 20-92y) using statistical shape modeling (SSM). Results showed that in the radius damage primarily at the lunate joint within the trabecular compartment, no damage was detected in the cortex. In the tibia, most damage accumulated in the proximal trabecular region, which is characterized by a lower bone volume fraction and a higher cortical thickness. The multi-stack acquisition protocol (20 and 30 mm for radius and tibia, respectively) proved less sensitive to boundary conditions than the standardized single-stack acquisition (10 mm). These findings suggest the potential of hFE-based SSM for understanding bone failure patterns in a population-wide context.
