ABSTRACT
Replacement of arthritic human joint with a prosthesis is a complicated surgical procedure with variable outcome. Even very experienced surgeons cannot guarantee successful results. Behavior of the prosthesis within the bone can be predicted by building an appropriate 3D model of prosthetic joint and running realistic computer simulations. However, rapid creation of 3D models prevents application of patient-specific computer simulation on a pre-operative basis. The aim of this project is to develop an automated system for generating patient-specific 3D models for pre-operative planning, i.e. the system should be able to create a robust finite element model from 2D medical images for future mechanical analysis. The major parts of such a system are developed in this work. For creation of a 3D model from a planar X-ray image the following method was used: (i) an accurate contour of the patient’s femur was extracted from the X-ray image using Image Processing techniques, such as “filtering” and “edge detection”; (ii) three generic models of different sizes were created using a standardized femur model; (iii) and the contour received was compared with different-angle profiles of generic models, the best matching generic model was chosen and it was warped to fit the patient’s actual dimensions.
