Biomechanical investigations of orthopedic fracture fixation constructs increasingly use analogs like the third and fourth generation composite femurs. However, no study has directly compared cortical screw purchase between these surrogates and human femurs, which was the present aim. Synthetic and human femurs had bicortical orthopedic screws ( and ) inserted in three locations along the anterior length. The screws were extracted to obtain pullout force, shear stress, and energy-to-pullout. The four study groups ( femurs each) assessed were the fourth generation composite femur with both 16 mm and 20 mm diameter canals, the third generation composite femur with a 16 mm canal, and the human femur. For a given femur type, there was no statistical difference between the proximal, center, or distal screw sites for virtually all comparisons. The fourth generation composite femur with a 20 mm canal was closest to the human femur for the outcome measures considered. Synthetic femurs showed a range of average measures (2948.54–5286.30 N, 27.30–35.60 MPa, and 3.63–9.95 J) above that for human femurs (1645.92–3084.95 N, 17.86–24.64 MPa, and 1.82–3.27 J). Shear stress and energy-to-pullout were useful supplemental evaluators of screw purchase, since they account for material properties and screw motion. Although synthetic femurs approximated human femurs with respect to screw extraction behavior, ongoing research is required to definitively determine which type of synthetic femur most closely resembles normal, osteopenic, or osteoporotic human bone at the screw-bone interface.
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September 2009
Technical Briefs
Cortical Screw Purchase in Synthetic and Human Femurs
Rad Zdero,
Rad Zdero
Martin Orthopaedic Biomechanics Laboratory,
e-mail: zderor@smh.toronto.on.ca
St. Michael’s Hospital
, Toronto, ON, M5B-1W8, Canada
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Khaled Elfallah,
Khaled Elfallah
Department of Surgery, Faculty of Medicine,
University of Toronto
, Toronto, ON, M55-1A8, Canada
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Michael Olsen,
Michael Olsen
Martin Orthopaedic Biomechanics Laboratory,
St. Michael’s Hospital
, Toronto, ON, M5B-1W8, Canada; Institute of Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering, University of Toronto
, Toronto, ON, M55-3G9, Canada
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Emil H. Schemitsch
Emil H. Schemitsch
Martin Orthopaedic Biomechanics Laboratory,
St. Michael’s Hospital
, Toronto, ON, M5B-1W8, Canada; Department of Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto
, Toronto, ON, M55-1A8, Canada
Search for other works by this author on:
Rad Zdero
Martin Orthopaedic Biomechanics Laboratory,
St. Michael’s Hospital
, Toronto, ON, M5B-1W8, Canadae-mail: zderor@smh.toronto.on.ca
Khaled Elfallah
Department of Surgery, Faculty of Medicine,
University of Toronto
, Toronto, ON, M55-1A8, Canada
Michael Olsen
Martin Orthopaedic Biomechanics Laboratory,
St. Michael’s Hospital
, Toronto, ON, M5B-1W8, Canada; Institute of Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering, University of Toronto
, Toronto, ON, M55-3G9, Canada
Emil H. Schemitsch
Martin Orthopaedic Biomechanics Laboratory,
St. Michael’s Hospital
, Toronto, ON, M5B-1W8, Canada; Department of Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto
, Toronto, ON, M55-1A8, CanadaJ Biomech Eng. Sep 2009, 131(9): 094503 (7 pages)
Published Online: August 6, 2009
Article history
Received:
December 4, 2007
Revised:
May 21, 2009
Published:
August 6, 2009
Citation
Zdero, R., Elfallah, K., Olsen, M., and Schemitsch, E. H. (August 6, 2009). "Cortical Screw Purchase in Synthetic and Human Femurs." ASME. J Biomech Eng. September 2009; 131(9): 094503. https://doi.org/10.1115/1.3194755
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