Language

English

Publication Date

9-1-2025

Journal

Annals of Biomedical Engineering

DOI

10.1007/s10439-025-03763-6

PMID

40481292

PMCID

PMC12303366

PubMedCentral® Posted Date

6-6-2026

PubMedCentral® Full Text Version

Author MSS

Abstract

Introduction: 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.

Methods: 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.

Results: 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.

Conclusion: The presented study demonstrated the ability to generate high-fidelity finite element models with unparalleled precision by capturing individual anatomical variations and material properties.

Keywords

Humans, Finite Element Analysis, Male, Aged, Female, Obesity, Models, Biological, Life Style, Middle Aged, Bone and Bones, Tomography, X-Ray Computed, Finite element analysis, bone strength, fracture risk, patient-specific analysis

Comments

This article has been corrected. See Ann Biomed Eng. 2026 Jan 6.

Published Open-Access

yes

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