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Zhou et al. Validating high resolution peripheral quantitative CT scanning of bone
DOI:10.1038/bonekey.2016.74
Clinical studies are increasingly making use of high-resolution peripheral quantitative computed tomography ((HR-pQCT) to investigate the properties of trabecular and cortical bone under various conditions. Zhou et al. used donor cadaveric bone samples from the tibia and distal radius to compare linear and non-linear analyses of data obtained from HR-pQCT with results from micro CT analysis (the current gold standard) and direct mechanical testing.
Although predictions at the tibia and radius obtained from HR-pQCT showed a close correlation with the predictions obtained from analysis of micro CT data and physical mechanical testing, there were some important differences. Non-linear predictions derived from HR-pQCT provided over-estimates of stiffness and yield strength while linear predictions underestimated yield strength.
The authors conclude that HR-pQCT can be used to assess the mechanical and morphological properties of human bone, but that correction values need to be applied to obtain the same high level of accuracy as obtained when employing micro CT gold standard protocols.
Editor’s comment: Although multiple studies have validated HR-pQCT-based finite element analyses (FEA) for strength of distal radius sections, this work reports the first non-linear high-resolution micro-finite element analyses of such sections and makes a systematic comparison between the distal radius and tibia of the same donors.
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