Finite element simulation of inhomogeneity and anisotropy of femur

The finite element method has been increasingly adopted to study the biomechanical behavior of biologic structures. Once the finite element mesh has been generated from CT data set, the assignment of bone tissuepsilas material properties to each element is a fundamental step in the generation of individualized or subject-specific finite element models. The aim of this work is to simulate the inhomogeneity and anisotropy of the femur using the finite element method. A program is developed to read a CT data set as well as the finite element mesh generated from it, and to assign to each element of the mesh the material properties derived from the bone tissue density at the element location. Moreover, the transversely isotropy of femur is simulated by taking into account the principal material orientation for each element.