Subject-specific p-FE analysis of the proximal femur utilizing micromechanics-based material properties

Novel subject-specific high-order finite element models of the human femur based on computer tomographic (CT) data are discussed with material properties determined by two different methods, empirically based and micromechanics based, both being determined from CT scans. The finite element (FE) results are validated through strain measurements on a femur harvested from a 54-year-old female. To the best of our knowledge, this work is the first to consider an inhomogeneous Poisson ratio and the first to compare results obtained by micromechanics-based material properties to experimental observations on a whole organ. We demonstrate that the FE models with the micromechanics-based material properties yield results which closely match the experimental observations and are in accordance with the empirically based FE models. Because the p-FE micromechanics-based results match independent experimental observations and may provide access to patient-specific distribution of the full elasticity tensor components, it is recommended to use a micromechanics-based method for subject-specific structural mechanics analyses of a human femur.