Geometric Parameterisation in Finite Element Models of Femoroacetabular Impingement

Abnormal bony morphology is a factor implicated in hip joint soft tissue damage and an increased lifetime risk of osteoarthritis. One geometric feature causing impingement and thus resulting in such damage is a bony lump on the femoral neck, known as a cam deformity.
A three-dimensional geometric parameterisation system was developed to capture key variations in the femur and acetabulum of subjects with clinically diagnosed cam deformity. Novel quantitative measures of the size and position of cams were taken and used to assess differences in morphological deformities between males and females. The precision of the measures was sufficient to identify differences between subjects that could
not be seen using two-dimensional imaging; cams were found to be more superiorly located in males than in females. As well as providing a means to distinguish between subjects more clearly, the geometric hip parameterisation facilitated flexible and rapid
automated generation of a range of hip geometries including cams. These were used to develop finite element models. Patient-specific parametric finite element models of hips under impingement conditions were verified with comparison to their patient-specific segmentation-based equivalents. The parameterisation system was then used to generate further models to investigate the effects of bone morphology on tissue strains. This demonstrated that a combination of cam location and extent affect impingement severity, highlighting the importance of reporting the full three-dimensional geometry used for
parametric models.