Optimisation of Mechanical characteristics distribution of a pre-meshed human vertebra based on CT scanning

In order to perform patient specific finite element analysis is necessary to build FEM models whose geometry and material properties are similar to the patient’s ones; this information can be obtained by imaging diagnostic techniques as, for example, CT scanning. The Image threshold Technique allows to rebuild the tissues geometry; several mathematical models allow correlating the Hounsfield scale to Young’s modules. The limit of this approach is that usually, the FEM discretisation is different from the CT one and, consequentially, several finite elements are across CT scan voxels with different Hounsfield scale values. The aim of this work is to evaluate the better method of attribution of Young’s modulus values to Finite Elements and to choose the optimal number of Young’s modules to be taken into account in order to realise a simulation which is a good compromise between model adherence to the real tissues and simple simulations management.