Multiscale analysis of the hip joint: from body motion to cartilage stresses

Abstract

Introduction: Hip osteoarthritis is a pathology related to hip-cartilage degeneration. Although the etiology of this disease is not well defined, it is known that age is a determinant risk factor. However, hip arthritis in young patients could be largely promoted by biomechanical factors. The objective of this project is to analyze the hydrostatic pressure distribution in articular cartilage of the hip joint in two different scenarios in order to compare previous obtained results from Abaqus, and compare them with the new obtained results in FEBio. Methods: A three-dimensional finite element model of the femur and the pelvis with the most relevant axial components of muscle forces was used to simulate hydrostatic pressure distribution during two walking phases. The data has been extracted from a biomechanics laboratory to assemble the boundary conditions used for implementing the FEM hip model. Regarding the contact interfaces a few implementations have been tested. Findings: The results are substantially in agreement with the old model. However, the hydrostatic pressure distribution differs slightly with the desired results, suggesting that a few improvements need to be done. Conclusion: These hydrostatic pressure distribution simulations during gait could be crucial to better understand which are the early features of OA, and could be used by physicians to help them in diagnosis and treatment of articular cartilage degeneration.