Computers in Biology and Medicine
Volume 42, Issue 10 , Pages 957-963, October 2012
Abstract
The finite element (FE) analysis is an effective
method to study the strength and predict the fracture risk of
endodontically-treated teeth. This paper presents a rapid method
developed to generate a comprehensive tooth FE model using data
retrieved from micro-computed tomography (μCT). With this method, the
inhomogeneity of material properties of teeth was included into the
model without dividing the tooth model into different regions. The
material properties of the tooth were assumed to be related to the
mineral density. The fracture risk at different tooth portions was
assessed for root canal treatments. The micro-CT images of a tooth were
processed by a Matlab software programme and the CT numbers were
retrieved. The tooth contours were obtained with thresholding
segmentation using Amira. The inner and outer surfaces of the tooth were
imported into Solidworks and a three-dimensional (3D) tooth model was
constructed. An assembly of the tooth model with the periodontal
ligament (PDL) layer and surrounding bone was imported into ABAQUS. The
material properties of the tooth were calculated from the retrieved CT
numbers via ABAQUS user's subroutines. Three root canal geometries
(original and two enlargements) were investigated. The proposed method
in this study can generate detailed 3D finite element models of a tooth
with different root canal enlargements and filling materials, and would
be very useful for the assessment of the fracture risk at different
tooth portions after root canal treatments.
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