Mechanical Engineering - Theses
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ItemA computational approach to investigate subchondral bone adaptation during the development and progression of osteoarthritis( 2013)Osteoarthritis (OA) is a degenerative joint disease widespread in the general population –particularly the aged. Advanced OA is most notably characterised by the gradual degradation of the protective cartilage tissues of articulating bones that can lead to severe joint pain and immobilisation. There is emerging evidence to suggest that observable changes in the structure and material properties of underlying subchondral bone (bone directly beneath the joint’s cartilage) play critical roles in the aetiology of OA. Factors driving these subchondral bone changes are largely unknown but it is believed to occur as a response to either stabilise or accelerate OA due to altered biomechanical loads. This study quantified the extent of subchondral bone adaptation from an experiment assessing two cohorts: mice with induced knee OA by surgical destabilisation of the medial meniscus and a sham surgery group of mice without OA. Time-dependent subchondral bone adaptations were quantified using microtomography imaging techniques prior to surgery and 4, 8 and 12 weeks post-surgery. Three-dimensional finite element (FE) models were created from the baseline image data and a bone (re)modelling algorithm was developed to iteratively update the FE models, simulating subchondral bone adaptation to load. Simulations were compared with the post-surgery image data for validation, and potential osteoarthritic load changes were identified. Simulated osteoarthritic bone adaptations matched the experimental results, where localised subchondral bone density changes occurred in response to altered biomechanical loads, verifying that the simulation was a physiologically accurate model.