Finite Element Modeling of the Human Wrist: A Review

Abstract

Background Understanding wrist biomechanics is important to appreciate and treat the wrist joint. Numerical methods, specifically, finite element method (FEM), have been used to overcome experimental methods' limitations. Due to the complexity of the wrist and difficulty in modeling, there is heterogeneity and lack of consistent methodology in the published studies, challenging our ability to incorporate information gleaned from the various studies.

Questions/Purposes This study summarizes the use of FEM to study the wrist in the last decade.

Methods We included studies published from 2012 to 2022 from databases: EBSCO, Research4Life, ScienceDirect, and Scopus. Twenty-two studies were included.

Results FEM used to study wrist in general, pathology, and treatment include diverse topics and are difficult to compare directly. Most studies evaluate normal wrist mechanics, all modeling the bones, with fewer studies including cartilage and ligamentous structures in the model. The dynamic effect of the tendons on wrist mechanics is rarely accounted for.

Conclusion Due to the complexity of wrist mechanics, the current literature remains incomplete. Considering published strategies and modeling techniques may aid in the development of more comprehensive and improved wrist model fidelity.

Keywords

biomechanics - finite element analysis - finite element method - model - wrist

Publikationsverlauf

Eingereicht: 28. Dezember 2022

Angenommen: 13. April 2023

Artikel online veröffentlicht:
08. Mai 2023

• References

• 1 Bajuri MN, Kadir MRA, Raman MM, Kamarul T. Mechanical and functional assessment of the wrist affected by rheumatoid arthritis: a finite element analysis. Med Eng Phys 2012; 34 (09) 1294-1302
• 2 Bajuri MN, Abdul Kadir MR, Murali MR, Kamarul T. Biomechanical analysis of the wrist arthroplasty in rheumatoid arthritis: a finite element analysis. Med Biol Eng Comput 2013; 51 (1-2): 175-186
• 3 Akhbari B, Morton AM, Shah KN. et al. In vivo articular contact pattern of a total wrist arthroplasty design. J Biomech 2021; 121: 110420
• 4 Bajuri MN, Kadir MR, Amin IM, Öchsner A. Biomechanical analysis of rheumatoid arthritis of the wrist joint. Proc Inst Mech Eng H 2012; 226 (07) 510-520
• 5 Halilaj E, Laidlaw DH, Moore DC, Crisco JJ. Polar histograms of curvature for quantifying skeletal joint shape and congruence. J Biomech Eng 2014; 136 (09) 094503
• 6 Çelik A, Kovacı H, Saka G, Kaymaz İ. Numerical investigation of mechanical effects caused by various fixation positions on a new radius intramedullary nail. Comput Methods Biomech Biomed Engin 2015; 18 (03) 316-324
• 7 Alonso Rasgado T, Zhang Q, Jimenez Cruz D. et al. Analysis of tenodesis techniques for treatment of scapholunate instability using the finite element method. Int J Numer Methods Biomed Eng 2017; 33 (12) p. e2897.
• 8 Faudot B, Ballerini J, Ross M. et al. Mechanical performance comparison of two surgical constructs for wrist four-corner arthrodesis via dorsal and radial approaches. Clin Biomech (Bristol, Avon) 2021; 82: 105274
• 9 Burkhart TA, Andrews DM, Dunning CE. Finite element modeling mesh quality, energy balance and validation methods: a review with recommendations associated with the modeling of bone tissue. J Biomech 2013; 46 (09) 1477-1488
• 10 Zienkiewicz OC, Taylor RL, Zhu JZ. Automatic mesh generation. In: Finite Element Method - Its Basis and Fundamentals. 7th ed.. Butterworth-Heinemann; Oxford; 2013: 573-640
• 11 Viceconti M, Olsen S, Nolte LP, Burton K. Extracting clinically relevant data from finite element simulations. Clin Biomech (Bristol, Avon) 2005; 20 (05) 451-454
• 12 Gíslason MK, Stansfield B, Nash DH. Finite element model creation and stability considerations of complex biological articulation: the human wrist joint. Med Eng Phys 2010; 32 (05) 523-531
• 13 Wei W, Du X, Li N. et al. Biomechanical influence of T1 tilt alteration on adjacent segments after anterior cervical fusion. Front Bioeng Biotechnol 2022; 10: 936749
• 14 Liu F, Feng X, Zheng J, Leung F, Chen B. Biomechanical comparison of the undercut thread design versus conventional buttress thread for the lag screw of the dynamic hip screw system. Front Bioeng Biotechnol 2022; 10: 1019172
• 15 Mouzakis DE, Rachiotis G, Zaoutsos S, Eleftheriou A, Malizos KN. Finite element simulation of the mechanical impact of computer work on the carpal tunnel syndrome. J Biomech 2014; 47 (12) 2989-2994
• 16 Bicen AC, Gokdemir H, Seber S, Aydin R, Gunal I. Load transmission characteristics of limited carpal fusions: a two-dimensional finite element study. Eur J Orthop Surg Traumatol 2015; 25 (02) 305-308
• 17 Matsuura Y, Thoreson AR, Zhao C, Amadio PC, An KN. Development of a hyperelastic material model of subsynovial connective tissue using finite element modeling. J Biomech 2016; 49 (01) 119-122
• 18 Perevoshchikova N, Moerman KM, Akhbari B. et al. Finite element analysis of the performance of additively manufactured scaffolds for scapholunate ligament reconstruction. PLoS One 2021; 16 (11) e0256528
• 19 Yamazaki T, Matsuura Y, Nimura A, Horiuchi S, Suzuki T, Ohtori S. Prediction of stress distribution applied to the triangular fibrocartilage complex: a finite element analysis. J Hand Surg Glob Online 2021; 3 (02) 94-98
• 20 Matsuura Y, Kuniyoshi K, Suzuki T. et al. Accuracy of specimen-specific nonlinear finite element analysis for evaluation of distal radius strength in cadaver material. J Orthop Sci 2014; 19 (06) 1012-1018
• 21 Gíslason MK, Stansfield B, Bransby-Zachary M, Hems T, Nash DH. Load transfer through the radiocarpal joint and the effects of partial wrist arthrodesis on carpal bone behaviour: a finite element study. J Hand Surg Eur Vol 2012; 37 (09) 871-878
• 22 Gislason MK, Foster E, Bransby-Zachary M, Nash DH. Biomechanical analysis of the Universal 2 implant in total wrist arthroplasty: a finite element study. Comput Methods Biomech Biomed Engin 2017; 20 (10) 1113-1121
• 23 Ramlee MH, Beng GK, Bajuri N, Abdul Kadir MR. Finite element analysis of the wrist in stroke patients: the effects of hand grip. Med Biol Eng Comput 2018; 56 (07) 1161-1171
• 24 Oflaz H, Gunal I. Maximum loading of carpal bones during movements: a finite element study. Eur J Orthop Surg Traumatol 2019; 29 (01) 47-50
• 25 Chamoret D, Roth S, Feng ZQ, Yan XT, Gomes S, Peyraut F. A novel approach to modelling and simulating the contact behaviour between a human hand model and a deformable object. Comput Methods Biomech Biomed Engin 2013; 16 (02) 130-140
• 26 Chamoret D, Bodo M, Roth S. A first step in finite-element simulation of a grasping task. Computer Assisted Surgery 2016; 21 sup1, 22-29
• 27 Wei Y, Zou Z, Wei G, Ren L, Qian Z. Subject-specific finite element modelling of the human hand complex: muscle-driven simulations and experimental validation. Ann Biomed Eng 2020; 48 (04) 1181-1195
• 28 Zysset PK, Dall'ara E, Varga P, Pahr DH. Finite element analysis for prediction of bone strength. Bonekey Rep 2013; 2: 386
• 29 Fan YL, Xu HY, Xia MY. et al. Biomechanical evaluation of axial-loading simulated experiment in wrist fractures: a finite element analysis. J Int Med Res 2020; 48 (10) 300060520966884
• 30 Spanswick P, Whittier D, Kwong C, Korley R, Boyd S, Schneider P. Restoration of stiffness during fracture healing at the distal radius, using HR-pQCT and finite element methods. J Clin Densitom 2021; 24 (03) 422-432
• 31 Varga P, Schefzig P, Unger E, Mayr W, Zysset PK, Erhart J. Finite element based estimation of contact areas and pressures of the human scaphoid in various functional positions of the hand. J Biomech 2013; 46 (05) 984-990
• 32 Moore DC, Casey JA, Gilbert SL, Crisco JJ. μCT-generated carpal cartilage surfaces: validation of a technique. J Biomech 2011; 44 (13) 2516-2519
• 33 Gislason MK, Nash DH, Nicol A. et al. A three-dimensional finite element model of maximal grip loading in the human wrist. Proc Inst Mech Eng H 2009; 223 (07) 849-861
• 34 Zhao G, Wang H, Wang L. et al. The biomechanical effects of different bag-carrying styles on lumbar spine and paraspinal muscles: a combined musculoskeletal and finite element study. Orthop Surg 2023; 15 (01) 315-327
• 35 Anderson DD, Daniel TE. A contact-coupled finite element analysis of the radiocarpal joint. Semin Arthroplasty 1995; 6 (01) 30-36
• 36 Carrigan SD, Whiteside RA, Pichora DR, Small CF. Development of a three-dimensional finite element model for carpal load transmission in a static neutral posture. Ann Biomed Eng 2003; 31 (06) 718-725
• 37 Wei Y, McGlone FP, Marshall AG. et al. From skin mechanics to tactile neural coding: predicting afferent neural dynamics during active touch and perception. IEEE Trans Biomed Eng 2022; 69 (12) 3748-3759
• 38 Atthapreyangkul A, Hoffman M, Pearce G, Standard O. Effect of geometrical structure variations on strength and damage onset of cortical bone using multi-scale cohesive zone based finite element method. J Mech Behav Biomed Mater 2023; 138: 105578
• 39 Garcia-Elias M, Lluch A. Green's Operative Hand Surgery. 7th ed.. Elsevier; 2016
• 40 Marqués R, Melchor J, Sánchez-Montesinos I, Roda O, Rus G, Hernández-Cortés P. Biomechanical finite element method model of the proximal carpal row and experimental validation. Front Physiol 2022; 12: 749372
• 41 Wang T, Cai Z, Zhao Y. et al. Development of a three-dimensional finite element model of thoracolumbar kyphotic deformity following vertebral column decancellation. Appl Bionics Biomech 2019; 2019: 5109285
• 42 Leonardo-Diaz R, Alonso-Rasgado T, Jimenez-Cruz D, Bailey CG, Talwalkar S. Performance evaluation of surgical techniques for treatment of scapholunate instability in a type II wrist. Int J Numer Methods Biomed Eng 2020; 36 (01) e3278
• 43 Halilaj E, Rajagopal A, Fiterau M, Hicks JL, Hastie TJ, Delp SL. Machine learning in human movement biomechanics: best practices, common pitfalls, and new opportunities. J Biomech 2018; 81: 1-11