Are CT-Based Finite Element Model Predictions of Femoral Bone Strengthening Clinically Useful?

• Published in: Current osteoporosis reports Vol. 16; no. 3; pp. 216 - 223
• Main Authors: Viceconti, Marco, Qasim, Muhammad, Bhattacharya, Pinaki, Li, Xinshan
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Springer US 01.06.2018
• Subjects: Biomechanics (G Niebur and J Wallace; Biomechanics (G Niebur and J Wallace, Section Editors); Epidemiology; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Orthopedics; Section Editors; Topical Collection on Biomechanics; Subject-specific finite element models; Cost-benefit; Hip fracture; Computed tomography
• ISSN: 1544-1873; 1544-2241
• DOI: 10.1007/s11914-018-0438-8

Purpose of Review This study reviews the available literature to compare the accuracy of areal bone mineral density derived from dual X-ray absorptiometry (DXA-aBMD) and of subject-specific finite element models derived from quantitative computed tomography (QCT-SSFE) in predicting bone strength measured experimentally on cadaver bones, as well as their clinical accuracy both in terms of discrimination and prediction. Based on this information, some basic cost-effectiveness calculations are performed to explore the use of QCT-SSFE instead of DXA-aBMD in (a) clinical studies with femoral strength as endpoint, (b) predictor of the risk of hip fracture in low bone mass patients. Recent Findings Recent improvements involving the use of smooth-boundary meshes, better anatomical referencing for proximal-only scans, multiple side-fall directions, and refined boundary conditions increase the predictive accuracy of QCT-SSFE. Summary If these improvements are adopted, QCT-SSFE is always preferable over DXA-aBMD in clinical studies with femoral strength as the endpoint, while it is not yet cost-effective as a hip fracture risk predictor, although pathways that combine both QCT-SSFE and DXA-aBMD are promising.