Foot Bone in Vivo: Its Center of Mass and Centroid of Shape

TL;DR

This study analyzes foot bone shape and mass distribution using high-precision CT scans to establish a new assessment method for bone strength based on geometric and mass properties.

Contribution

It introduces an assessment technique linking bone shape and mass distribution to strength, based on in vivo CT data analysis.

Findings

Superposition of center of mass and centroid of shape observed

Relationship between physical exercises and bone strength analyzed

New biomechanical insights into foot bone structure provided

Abstract

This paper studies foot bone geometrical shape and its mass distribution and establishes an assessment method of bone strength. Using spiral CT scanning, with an accuracy of sub-millimeter, we analyze the data of 384 pieces of foot bones in vivo and investigate the relationship between the bone's external shape and internal structure. This analysis is explored on the bases of the bone's center of mass and its centroid of shape. We observe the phenomenon of superposition of center of mass and centroid of shape fairly precisely, indicating a possible appearance of biomechanical organism. We investigate two aspects of the geometrical shape, (i) distance between compact bone's centroid of shape and that of the bone and (ii) the mean radius of the same density bone issue relative to the bone's centroid of shape. These quantities are used to interpret the influence of different physical exercises imposed on bone strength, thereby contributing to an alternate assessment technique to bone strength.