Liebschner Michael A K, Kim Daeseung, Klonis Nina, Gregori Giulia, Armamento-Villareal Reina, Qualls Clifford, Villareal Dennis T
Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes, and Metabolism, Department of Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, USA.
Department of Oral & Maxillary Surgery, The Methodist Hospital Research Institute, Houston, TX, USA.
Ann Biomed Eng. 2025 Jun 6. doi: 10.1007/s10439-025-03763-6.
Obesity presents a significant health risk for the aging population. Research shows that weight loss and regular exercise can greatly improve the functional status of older adults who are obese. However, weight loss may also result in a decrease in bone mass. To properly assess changes in fracture risk due to lifestyle interventions, a direct biomechanical evaluation of bone strength and fracture risk at metabolically active sites is essential.
Computed tomography scans taken at two different time points of ten human volunteers provided the foundation for this study. A high-fidelity segmentation and modeling approach was taken to generate finite element models. Fracture risk before and after lifestyle intervention was compared using well-established hip and spine fracture models. In this study, two modeling techniques for generating finite element analyses were compared for their ability to detect minor changes in bone strength.
An uncertainty analysis of methodologies indicated that a high-fidelity anatomically detailed modeling technique would be more sensitive than state-of-the-art voxel-based techniques to detect changes in bone strength and subsequent fracture risk due to lifestyle intervention.
The presented study demonstrated the ability to generate high-fidelity finite element models with unparalleled precision by capturing individual anatomical variations and material properties.
肥胖给老年人群带来了重大的健康风险。研究表明，减肥和定期锻炼可以极大地改善肥胖老年人的功能状态。然而，体重减轻也可能导致骨量下降。为了正确评估生活方式干预引起的骨折风险变化，对代谢活跃部位的骨强度和骨折风险进行直接的生物力学评估至关重要。
对十名人类志愿者在两个不同时间点进行的计算机断层扫描为这项研究提供了基础。采用了一种高保真分割和建模方法来生成有限元模型。使用成熟的髋部和脊柱骨折模型比较了生活方式干预前后的骨折风险。在本研究中，比较了两种生成有限元分析的建模技术检测骨强度微小变化的能力。
方法的不确定性分析表明，一种高保真的解剖学详细建模技术比基于体素的现有技术更敏感，能够检测由于生活方式干预引起的骨强度变化和随后的骨折风险。
本研究表明，通过捕捉个体解剖变异和材料特性，能够以无与伦比的精度生成高保真有限元模型。
