Dall’Ara, E., Peña-Fernández, M., Palanca, M. et al. (3 more authors) (2017) Precision of Digital Volume Correlation Approaches for Strain Analysis in Bone Imaged with Micro-Computed Tomography at Different Dimensional Levels. Frontiers in Materials, 4. 31.
Abstract
Accurate measurement of local strain in heterogeneous and anisotropic bone tissue is fundamental to understand the pathophysiology of musculoskeletal diseases, to evaluate the effect of interventions from preclinical studies, and to optimize the design and delivery of biomaterials. Digital volume correlation (DVC) can be used to measure the three-dimensional displacement and strain fields from micro-computed tomography (μCT) images of loaded specimens. However, this approach is affected by the quality of the input images, by the morphology and density of the tissue under investigation, by the correlation scheme, and by the operational parameters used in the computation. Therefore, for each application, the precision of the method should be evaluated. In this paper, we present the results collected from datasets analyzed in previous studies as well as new data from a recent experimental campaign for characterizing the relationship between the precision of two different DVC approaches and the spatial resolution of the outputs. Different bone structures scanned with laboratory source μCT or synchrotron light μCT (SRμCT) were processed in zero-strain tests to evaluate the precision of the DVC methods as a function of the subvolume size that ranged from 8 to 2,500 µm. The results confirmed that for every microstructure the precision of DVC improves for larger subvolume size, following power laws. However, for the first time, large differences in the precision of both local and global DVC approaches have been highlighted when SRμCT or in vivo μCT images were used instead of conventional ex vivo μCT. These findings suggest that in situ mechanical testing protocols applied in SRμCT facilities should be optimized to allow DVC analyses of localized strain measurements. Moreover, for in vivo μCT applications, DVC analyses should be performed only with relatively course spatial resolution for achieving a reasonable precision of the method. In conclusion, we have extensively shown that the precision of both tested DVC approaches is affected by different bone structures, different input image resolution, and different subvolume sizes. Before each specific application, DVC users should always apply a similar approach to find the best compromise between precision and spatial resolution of the measurements.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | Copyright © 2017 Dall’Ara, Peña-Fernández, Palanca, Giorgi, Cristofolini and Tozzi. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms. |
Keywords: | bone; strain; digital volume correlation; deformable registration; micro-computed tomography; precision |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Sheffield |
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health (Sheffield) > The Medical School (Sheffield) > Division of Genomic Medicine (Sheffield) > Department of Oncology and Metabolism (Sheffield) |
Funding Information: | Funder Grant number EUROPEAN COMMISSION - FP6/FP7 MAMBO - 327357 ENGINEERING AND PHYSICAL SCIENCE RESEARCH COUNCIL (EPSRC) EP/K03877X/1 ROYAL SOCIETY RG150012 |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Sheffield |
Date Deposited: | 14 Nov 2017 11:58 |
Last Modified: | 22 Jul 2020 10:09 |
Published Version: | https://doi.org/10.3389/fmats.2017.00031 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Frontiers Media |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.3389/fmats.2017.00031 |
Related URLs: | |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:124019 |