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A rigorous method for evaluation of the 6D compliance of external fixators

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Abstract

External fixators are standard devices to stabilize bone fractures and their compliance aims at producing an interfragmentary motion that promotes rapid and successful healing. While evaluation of their axial compliance is a routine test, the quantification and interpretation of their full 6 × 6 compliance matrix is an extensive and delicate task. In this context, the objective of this study was to develop, validate and demonstrate the potential of a rigorous method to quantify their 6 × 6 compliance matrix. An experimental system was developed to apply six independent static forces and moments to an external fixator in the field of view of two infrared cameras quantifying the induced motion. The system was then tested with a calibration structure which compliance could be calculated analytically and numerically. Finally, the system was applied to compare three configurations of a commercial external wrist fixator. The results of the method proved to be reproducible and highly consistent with the linear elasticity theory in the physiological range of small deformations. A rigorous method for evaluation of the 6D compliance becomes therefore available for research in mechanobiology of fracture healing by external fixation.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory for Bone Biomechanics, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (EPFL), 1015, Lausanne, Switzerland

    Antonio Meleddu & Sébastien Barrault

  2. Institute for Lightweight Design and Structural Biomechanics, Vienna University of Technology (TU-Wien), Gußhausstraße 27-29, Wien, 1040, Austria

    Philippe K. Zysset

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  1. Antonio Meleddu
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  2. Sébastien Barrault
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  3. Philippe K. Zysset
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Correspondence to Philippe K. Zysset.

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Meleddu, A., Barrault, S. & Zysset, P.K. A rigorous method for evaluation of the 6D compliance of external fixators. Biomech Model Mechanobiol 6, 253–264 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10237-006-0052-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10237-006-0052-z

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