Femur fracture at the tip of a total hip replacement (THR), commonly known as Vancouver B1 fracture, is mainly treated using rigid metallic bone plates which may result in “stress shielding” leading to bone resorption and implant loosening. To minimize stress shielding, a new carbon fiber (CF)/Flax/Epoxy composite plate has been developed and biomechanically compared to a standard clinical metal plate. For fatigue tests, experiments were done using six artificial femurs cyclically loaded through the femoral head in axial compression for four stages: Stage 1 (intact), stage 2 (after THR insertion), stage 3 (after plate fixation of a simulated Vancouver B1 femoral midshaft fracture gap), and stage 4 (after fracture gap healing). For fracture fixation, one group was fitted with the new CF/Flax/Epoxy plate (n = 3), whereas another group was repaired with a standard clinical metal plate (Zimmer, Warsaw, IN) (n = 3). In addition to axial stiffness measurements, infrared thermography technique was used to capture the femur and plate surface stresses during the testing. Moreover, finite element analysis (FEA) was performed to evaluate the composite plate's axial stiffness and surface stress field. Experimental results showed that the CF/Flax/Epoxy plated femur had comparable axial stiffness (fractured = 645 ± 67 N/mm; healed = 1731 ± 109 N/mm) to the metal-plated femur (fractured = 658 ± 69 N/mm; healed = 1751 ± 39 N/mm) (p = 1.00). However, the bone beneath the CF/Flax/Epoxy plate was the only area that had a significantly higher average surface stress (fractured = 2.10 ± 0.66 MPa; healed = 1.89 ± 0.39 MPa) compared to bone beneath the metal plate (fractured = 1.18 ± 0.93 MPa; healed = 0.71 ± 0.24 MPa) (p < 0.05). FEA bone surface stresses yielded peak of 13 MPa at distal epiphysis (stage 1), 16 MPa at distal epiphysis (stage 2), 85 MPa for composite and 129 MPa for metal-plated femurs at the vicinity of nearest screw just proximal to fracture (stage 3), 21 MPa for composite and 24 MPa for metal-plated femurs at the vicinity of screw farthest away distally from fracture (stage 4). These results confirm that the new CF/Flax/Epoxy material could be a potential candidate for bone fracture plate applications as it can simultaneously provide similar mechanical stiffness and lower stress shielding (i.e., higher bone stress) compared to a standard clinical metal bone plate.
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September 2014
Research-Article
Biomechanical Analysis of a New Carbon Fiber/Flax/Epoxy Bone Fracture Plate Shows Less Stress Shielding Compared to a Standard Clinical Metal Plate
Zahra S. Bagheri,
Zahra S. Bagheri
Department of Mechanical
and Industrial Engineering,
and Industrial Engineering,
Ryerson University
,Toronto, ON M5B-2K3
, Canada
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Pouria Tavakkoli Avval,
Pouria Tavakkoli Avval
Department of Mechanical
and Industrial Engineering,
and Industrial Engineering,
Ryerson University
,Toronto, ON M5B-2K3
, Canada
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Habiba Bougherara,
Habiba Bougherara
1
Department of Mechanical
and Industrial Engineering (Eric Palin Hall),
e-mail: habiba.bougherara@ryerson.ca
and Industrial Engineering (Eric Palin Hall),
Ryerson University
,350 Victoria Street
,Toronto, ON M5B-2K3
, Canada
e-mail: habiba.bougherara@ryerson.ca
1Corresponding author.
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Mina S. R. Aziz,
Mina S. R. Aziz
Institute of Medical Science,
University of Toronto
,Toronto, ON M5S-1A8
, Canada
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Emil H. Schemitsch,
Emil H. Schemitsch
Institute of Medical Science,
University of Toronto
,Toronto, ON M5S-1A8
, Canada
Faculty of Medicine,
University of Toronto
,Toronto, ON M5S-1A8
, Canada
Martin Orthopaedic Biomechanics Lab,
St. Michael's Hospital
,Toronto, ON M5B-1W8
, Canada
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Radovan Zdero
Radovan Zdero
Department of Mechanical
and Industrial Engineering,
and Industrial Engineering,
Ryerson University
,Toronto, ON M5B-2K3
, Canada
Martin Orthopaedic Biomechanics Lab,
St. Michael's Hospital
,Toronto, ON M5B-1W8
, Canada
Search for other works by this author on:
Zahra S. Bagheri
Department of Mechanical
and Industrial Engineering,
and Industrial Engineering,
Ryerson University
,Toronto, ON M5B-2K3
, Canada
Pouria Tavakkoli Avval
Department of Mechanical
and Industrial Engineering,
and Industrial Engineering,
Ryerson University
,Toronto, ON M5B-2K3
, Canada
Habiba Bougherara
Department of Mechanical
and Industrial Engineering (Eric Palin Hall),
e-mail: habiba.bougherara@ryerson.ca
and Industrial Engineering (Eric Palin Hall),
Ryerson University
,350 Victoria Street
,Toronto, ON M5B-2K3
, Canada
e-mail: habiba.bougherara@ryerson.ca
Mina S. R. Aziz
Institute of Medical Science,
University of Toronto
,Toronto, ON M5S-1A8
, Canada
Emil H. Schemitsch
Institute of Medical Science,
University of Toronto
,Toronto, ON M5S-1A8
, Canada
Faculty of Medicine,
University of Toronto
,Toronto, ON M5S-1A8
, Canada
Martin Orthopaedic Biomechanics Lab,
St. Michael's Hospital
,Toronto, ON M5B-1W8
, Canada
Radovan Zdero
Department of Mechanical
and Industrial Engineering,
and Industrial Engineering,
Ryerson University
,Toronto, ON M5B-2K3
, Canada
Martin Orthopaedic Biomechanics Lab,
St. Michael's Hospital
,Toronto, ON M5B-1W8
, Canada
1Corresponding author.
Manuscript received January 23, 2014; final manuscript received May 9, 2014; accepted manuscript posted May 14, 2014; published online June 26, 2014. Assoc. Editor: Joel D. Stitzel.
J Biomech Eng. Sep 2014, 136(9): 091002 (10 pages)
Published Online: June 26, 2014
Article history
Received:
January 23, 2014
Revision Received:
May 9, 2014
Accepted:
May 14, 2014
Citation
Bagheri, Z. S., Tavakkoli Avval, P., Bougherara, H., Aziz, M. S. R., Schemitsch, E. H., and Zdero, R. (June 26, 2014). "Biomechanical Analysis of a New Carbon Fiber/Flax/Epoxy Bone Fracture Plate Shows Less Stress Shielding Compared to a Standard Clinical Metal Plate." ASME. J Biomech Eng. September 2014; 136(9): 091002. https://doi.org/10.1115/1.4027669
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