Computer systems for determination of pressure distribution in the hip joint articular surface: validation and results

Higher and unevenly distributed contact stress in the hip-joint is a risk factor for the development of arthrosis.1,2,3 There are several biomechanical parameters that describe the distribution and the peak value of the stress in the hip joint, such as the gradient of the stress at different positions of the articular surface or the maximal value of the pressure on the articular surface of the hip joint pmax. The realistic measurement or the estimation of these parameters would be helpful in exploring the incidence of degenerative joint diseases. In this work, we describe the computer systems Viprecox and Active Contours that are used in the process of a realistic estimation of some biomechanical parameters of the hip joint including the value of the parameter pmax. Our additional purpose is to test these state-of-the-art computer systems by analysing the calculated values of pmax for 81 patients (37 males and 44 females).