Computational biomechanical modelling of the lumbar spine using marching-cubes surface smoothened finite element voxel meshing

TL;DR: An extensive review on the issues of mandibular and maxillary bone remodeling as a result of dental implantation is provided and a range of potential methods of predicting the mandible and maxilla remodeling are critically evaluated and compared.

TL;DR: A thorough review of the state-of-the-art methods and applications of voxel-based point cloud representations from a collection of papers in the recent decade is conducted, focusing on the creation and utilization ofvoxels, as well as the strengths and weaknesses of various methods using voxels.

Abstract: Digital imaging technologies such as X‐ray scans and ultrasound provide a convenient and non‐invasive way to capture high‐resolution images. The colour intensity of digital images provides information on the geometrical features and material distribution which can be utilised for stress analysis. The proposed approach employs an automatic and robust algorithm to generate quadtree (2D) or octree (3D) meshes from digital images. The use of polygonal elements (2D) or polyhedral elements (3D) constructed by the scaled boundary finite element method avoids the issue of hanging nodes (mesh incompatibility) commonly encountered by finite elements on quadtree or octree meshes. The computational effort is reduced by considering the small number of cell patterns occurring in a quadtree or an octree mesh. Examples with analytical solutions in 2D and 3D are provided to show the validity of the approach. Other examples including the analysis of 2D and 3D microstructures of concrete specimens as well as of a domain containing multiple spherical holes are presented to demonstrate the versatility and the simplicity of the proposed technique. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

TL;DR: In this article, the authors compare the two approaches in the framework of computational homogenization in elasticity, starting from material microstructural images, focusing on geometrical approximations, macroscopic properties and local quantities (e.g. stress oscillations, local error etc.).

TL;DR: It was concluded that the method developed offers new perspectives for the study of trabecular bone, which uses three-dimensional serial reconstruction techniques to construct a large-scale FE model, by directly converting voxels to elements.

TL;DR: It is concluded that application of the techniques investigated here can lead to a better prediction of the bone failure load for bone in vivo than is possible from DXA measurements, structural parameters, or a combination thereof.

TL;DR: It is established that QCT-based "voxel" finite element models are better predictors of vertebral compressive strength than QCT measures of bone mineral density with or without measures of cross-sectional area and offers great promise for improvement of clinical fracture risk assessment.

TL;DR: A new, automated method of generating patient-specific three-dimensional finite element models of bone is presented--it uses digital computed tomographic (CT) scan data to drive the geometry of the bone and to estimate its inhomogeneous material properties.