What is it about?
We simulated a 3D dynamic fracture model of human femur by integrating finite element (FE) analysis and Fuzzy logic control in order to understand the spatio-temporal healing phenomena. Several osteoproductive parameters (i.e. related to bone growth) were identified and employed in the rule-based simulation scheme. The study further examined the influence of different screw fixation mechanisms in determining the comparative progression of fracture healing. The problem was solved iteratively in several healing steps running in loop and accordingly, the local tissue concentrations and material properties were updated. The predicted results accorded well with various previous experimental observations.
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Why is it important?
The incidences of femur fractures have increased significantly in recent decades. Hip fracture accounts for a large proportion of hospitalisation in trauma cases. Biological fixations such as bone plates, rods are used to bridge the fracture site and impart stability to promote bone healing. Traditional treatment strategies for fractures are primarily dependent on the experience of the surgeon. The disadvantage of this is that, among the many treatment strategies, one cannot predict the treatment outcomes in advance and choose the best strategy for patients. The present Artificial Intelligence (AI) based preclinical model can help predict post-surgery bone healing, and thus can serve as a noninvasive tool for evaluating relative merits of fracture fixation techniques.
Perspectives
Fracture fixation techniques adopted by surgeons are by and large intuitive in nature. There are no set rules when it comes to surgery, the reason for which can be multifarious. Artificial Intelligence (AI) has a tremendous potential when it comes to understanding and predicting complex biological phenomena and hence, is slated to play a big role in applications related to health sciences in near future. Fuzzy logic, albeit a legacy AI system, has its foothold in various industrial applications. With the present Fuzzy technique, different fracture fixation strategies can be assessed based on healing outcome and the optimal strategy can be chosen. This can reduce the healing time, and lighten the economic burden and pain for the patients. Moreover, this will help surgeon choose the right implant or technique before the surgery. After incorporating various biological and patient-specific parameters, the fuzzy logic-based iterative model can further account for different clinical phenomena, such as smoking, diabetes, etc. Additionally, the linguistic rules can easily be altered as per the understanding of the medical experts or depending on the patient’s need. The model can also be explored/applied in veterinary fractures which are, physiologically and in various aspects, similar to those occurring in human patients.
Souptick Chanda
Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: A preclinical model of post-surgery secondary bone healing for subtrochanteric femoral fracture based on fuzzy interpretations, PLoS ONE, July 2022, PLOS,
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0271061.
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