The Femur as a Complete Musculo-Skeletal Construct: A Free Boundary Condition Finite Element Approach

Previous finite element studies of the femur have made various assumptions with regards to the boundary conditions imposed, with almost all implementing fixed boundary conditions on the femur itself. Several studies have attempted to include the affects of muscle forces acting on the cortex of the femoral bone, by applying muscle forces either at single nodes, or uniformly distributed across muscle attachment areas [1,2], with balanced sets of muscle and joint reaction forces being implemented. Muscle forces are taken from inverse dynamics optimisation studies, and are therefore sensitive to the optimisation criteria used, as well as the omission of passive support structures such as the ligaments.