Institute of General Electrical Engineering, University of Rostock, 18051, Rostock, Germany.
Department of Orthopaedics, University Medicine Rostock, 18057, Rostock, Germany.
Biomech Model Mechanobiol. 2021 Jun;20(3):1147-1166. doi: 10.1007/s10237-021-01439-3. Epub 2021 Mar 19.
Bone tissue exhibits piezoelectric properties and thus is capable of transforming mechanical stress into electrical potential. Piezoelectricity has been shown to play a vital role in bone adaptation and remodelling processes. Therefore, to better understand the interplay between mechanical and electrical stimulation during these processes, strain-adaptive bone remodelling models without and with considering the piezoelectric effect were simulated using the Python-based open-source software framework. To discretise numerical attributes, the finite element method (FEM) was used for the spatial variables and an explicit Euler scheme for the temporal derivatives. The predicted bone apparent density distributions were qualitatively and quantitatively evaluated against the radiographic scan of a human proximal femur and the bone apparent density calculated using a bone mineral density (BMD) calibration phantom, respectively. Additionally, the effect of the initial bone density on the resulting predicted density distribution was investigated globally and locally. The simulation results showed that the electrically stimulated bone surface enhanced bone deposition and these are in good agreement with previous findings from the literature. Moreover, mechanical stimuli due to daily physical activities could be supported by therapeutic electrical stimulation to reduce bone loss in case of physical impairment or osteoporosis. The bone remodelling algorithm implemented using an open-source software framework facilitates easy accessibility and reproducibility of finite element analysis made.
骨组织具有压电特性，因此能够将机械应力转化为电势能。已经证明，压电性在骨适应和重塑过程中起着至关重要的作用。因此，为了更好地理解这些过程中机械和电刺激之间的相互作用，使用基于 Python 的开源软件框架模拟了不考虑和考虑压电效应的应变自适应骨重塑模型。为了离散化数值属性，使用有限元方法（FEM）对空间变量进行离散化，使用显式 Euler 方案对时间导数进行离散化。将预测的骨表观密度分布与人体近端股骨的射线照相扫描和使用骨矿物质密度（BMD）校准体模计算的骨表观密度进行定性和定量评估。此外，还研究了初始骨密度对全局和局部最终预测密度分布的影响。模拟结果表明，电刺激的骨表面增强了骨沉积，这与文献中的先前发现一致。此外，日常体育活动产生的机械刺激可以通过治疗性电刺激来支持，以减少因身体损伤或骨质疏松症导致的骨质流失。使用开源软件框架实现的骨重塑算法便于有限元分析的轻松访问和可重复性。
