A study on optimal design of bone plate for the mandibular condyle neck fracture case

Abstract

Mandibular condyle fracture osteosynthesis has large restrictions on the position of screw and plate due to the anatomical characteristics. Also mastication causes various severe loading conditions on the defected mandible parts, therefore, the bone plates should be able to bond these part safely. In this study, we propose to utilize the topology optimization method for optimal design for the junction of the bone plates to ensure a high level of safety of the osteosynthesis even under these constraints. The position and the number of screws used for the bonding was based on the decision of a medical specialist. Mandible model extracted from Computer Tomograpy(CT), and the jaw muscles approximation model were used in the FEM analysis to simulation masticating environment. Absolute value of the displacement in the defected mandible part is used as a constraint in optimal design process, and the strain energy in the plates used for the objective function. We compare the optimally designed plates and the conventional plates by investigating the resulting stress field.