Design-optimization and material selection for a femoral-fracture fixation-plate implant

The problem of size/thickness optimization of a distal femoral-fracture fixation-plate is addressed computationally using a combined finite-element/design-optimization procedure. To obtain realistic physiological loading conditions associated with normal living activities (cycling, in the present case), a musculoskeletal multi-body inverse-dynamics analysis is carried out of a human riding the bicycle. While optimizing the design of the femoral-fracture locking-plate, realistic functional requirements pertaining to attain the required level of fracture-femur fixation and longevity/lifecycle were used. It is argued that these types of analysis should be used to complement pre-clinical implant-evaluation tests, the tests which normally include a limited number of physiological loading conditions and single pass/fail outcomes/decisions with respect to a set of lower-bound implant–performance criteria.