MSC Nastran Provides More Accurate Solution to Assess Bone Fracture Risk

Overview Humans lose bone mass with age because their bones lose calcium and other minerals and become lighter, less dense and more porous. As this process continues, our bones become weaker, increasing the risk of bone fracture. A patient is said to have osteoporosis when bone mineral density (BMD), the concentration of minerals in a unit volume of bone, falls below a threshold value. Currently, doctors estimate bone fracture risk using measurement of BMD combined with various methods such as physical examination of CT scans or X-rays and other physiological parameters such as gender, age, weight, etc. These diagnostic methods are primarily qualitative and don't take into account various mechanical factors of vertebrae such as shape, cortical bone thickness, density distribution of cortical bone-the outer region of the vertebrae, density distribution of cancellous bone-the inner region of the vertebrae, material properties of bone tissue, etc.