A finite element analysis of altered load distribution within femoral head in osteoarthritis.

Normally, osteoclasts and osteoblasts balance bone mass in a coupled process of remodelling ruled by the stress and strain levels experimented by the tissue. In this circumstance, we used finite element analysis to investigate how the abnormal re-arrangement of trabecular bone, observed in osteoarthritis, could be connected with the weird loading conditions acting over the femoral head after its advent. To carry out our aim, we implemented a 2D (homogeneous) isotropic and linearly elastic model of the proximal half of the human femur from X-ray images. Four analyses were carried out at different degrees of severity. Stress and strain were computed and data were analysed for two regions of interests. The results show that stress and strain for the healthy femur are consistent with those in the literature, whereas in osteoarthritic hips their physiological distributions are altered and areas with very low (geodes) and/or very high (eburnation) bone density might appear.