Prediction of Trabecular Fracture Zone

Aims Prediction of trabecular fracture zone is a wide challenge not yet solved. Some in-vitro studies pointed out the importance of local variation of the framework for the global behavior of the whole trabecular structure [1-4]. Researchers agree that the identification of the weakest link in the trabecular framework can lead to the prediction of the fracture zone, first, and of the failure event in general. Recently an automatic scheme for the identification of the trabecular fracture zone was presented and validated [5]. The automatic tool allowed performing a fast and accurate three-dimensional identification of the broken region. Preliminary results on the morphometry of trabecular fracture were already presented [6]. Authors underline the morphometrical variability of the trabecular structure. The trabecular broken region was found to be a very small part of the whole specimen, and with statistically significant different morphology. Nonetheless, was not possible to predict the trabecular fracture zone. Aim of the present study is the prediction of the trabecular fracture zone by means of a classification procedure based on the structural differences of the fracture region.