In silico of the different pin size of unilateral tibia external fixator: a pilot study

Abstract

External fixator is the promising medical device that can be used for treating bone fracture of tibia. The healing process can be taken place if some parameters are considered such as biomechanical aspect. One of them is the diameter of pin. However, the information regarding the biomechanics characteristics of the different pin size is fairly limited in the literature, thus it might be difficult for medical surgeons to choose pin size. Therefore, this pilot study was conducted to study the different pin size in treating transverse fracture in order to investigate the effect of it. Three-dimensional model of tibia bone and external fixator was constructed using MIMICS and Solid works, respectively. For the analysis, finite element method was utilized to simulate a stance phase condition where 50% of body weight was applied axially on the proximal tibia. The results showed that the 6.5 mm pin size demonstrated the lowest von mises stress at the pin bone interface.