CAD, CAE and rapid prototyping methods applied in long bones orthopaedics

Abstract

The paper presents some methods used to analyze human bone joints. First, there were defined the "hard" parts as the main bone components and "soft" parts as ligaments or menisci using CT images. These components are imported into a parameterized environment assembly module and a biomechanical model of human walking is being obtained, which is exported to a kinematic simulation environment and finite element analysis, where first the kinematic parameters are defined. With these defined parameters, the kinematic and dynamic simulation of the subsystems for classical, normal motion can be switched. Following the interpretation of the results, the initial parameters of the biomechanical subsystems may be modified. In the next phase, the components of the subsystems are divided successively and the finite element structure is obtained for the entire biomechanical system of the joints that participate in human locomotion.