Abstract

Giant cell tumor (GCT) is a primary bone tumor often affecting the knee region. In most cases, surgery is the most effective method of GCT treatment. Surgery usually consists of tumor removal and packing the remaining cavity with bone cement. However, this method of surgery may have some complications. Post-operative fracture particularly in weight bearing bones is a common complication of the tumor surgery. Precise estimation of bone strength is needed to estimate the factures risk so that the surgeon can perform preventive actions including cement augmentation. Finite element (FE) modeling is used to simulate the surgery and predict bone strength. Accurate geometry of bone and material properties assigned are very important for validation of models. There are several programs using CT images to precisely reconstruct the 3D geometry of bones. In most of them, homogeneous material properties are applied to the entire geometry or one material property is designated for compact and one for spongy bone. However, in reality, the material properties of bone are more complex. Hence, a more sophisticated method to address bones material heterogeneity is necessary. Here, a model of bone with a simulated defect filled with bone cement whose material properties are mapped using quantitative CT (QCT) and Simpleware is presented.