BANGALORE:
It's a meeting of dissimilar subjects: principles of mechanical
engineering are being used to understanding bone density and fracture
risk.
A team of engineers from Infosys Technologies, Bangalore,
has developed a solution using computer-assisted design and finite
element analysis (FEA) tools to study mechanics of vertebrae, taking
into account various factors such as shape, density distribution of
cortical and cancellous bone.
The team comprising Dattatraya
Parle, principal consultant, and Anirudha Ambulgekar, engineering
analyst, from Infosys Engineering Services unit, in collaboration with
medical experts, used MSC multi-disciplinary simulation solutions to
enable doctors to study bones in a detailed and non-invasive manner.
This, the team said, will help diagnose osteoporosis and accurately
quantify fracture risk.
Last week, for the second time in a
row, the team walked away as the winner of the prestigious 2014
Simulating Reality contest for their 'Osteoporosis solution'. In 2013,
an Infosys team had won the Simulating Reality contest for its 3D model
of the human heart, that helps medical professionals and scientists
improve their understanding of the complexities of human heart
disorders.
Currently, doctors estimate bone fracture risk using
various methods such as physical examination of CT scans or X-rays and
other physiological parameters such as gender, age and weight. "All
these diagnostic methods are qualitative and may not take into account
geometric and mechanical factors of vertebrae such as shape, cortical
bone thickness, density distribution of cortical/cancellous bone,
material properties of bone tissue etc. Our invention presents a
solution for osteoporosis vertebra to quantitatively assess the fracture
risk of vertebrae. Osteoporosis is a bone disease that is characterized
by a decrease in bone density that reduces bone strength and increases
risk of bone fracture. This solution brings together some of the best
practices adopted in mechanical engineering industry to bio-medical
industry," said Dr Ravi Kumar GVV, industry principal and head, Advanced
Engineering Group, Infosys.
Though computational techniques
have already been used in biomedical engineering, the current challenge
involves the application of advanced biomedical simulations to clinical
medicine and to the study of biological systems at different levels such
as cell, tissue and organ. By 2015, around 15% of Indians may be
osteoporotic due to increasing longevity of the Indian population. "This
is what motivated the Infosys team to develop the current innovative
solution for osteoporosis," he said.
The Infosys team worked on
the solution for about three months, in collaboration with a
radiologist. Initially, state-of-the-art practices and methodologies in
osteoporosis were studied. CT scan images of osteoporotic patient
vertebrae were used to generate a patient-specific 3D model containing
the exact shape and size of their porosity. The 3D model was calibrated
to actual dimensions prior to analysis for fracture risk.
A
typical case of a person sitting erect where 1000 N compressive force in
the lumbar spine is used for stress analysis. The computed compressive
vertebra stresses are used to assess patient-specific fracture risk
factor.
BEST TREATMENT POSSIBLE
With
this new solution from Infosys, doctors can precisely determine the
pathophysiology of the pain due to osteoporosis in individual cases.
This will help us select the appropriate treatment option for each
patient.
Dr Ketan Gaikwad | radiologist, Mumbai
Our engineering capabilities for the life sciences industry focus not
only on innovation but also on improving existing medical procedures and
processes. This breakthrough in reimagining osteoporosis diagnosis and
treatment provides medical practitioners with a new, comprehensive and
non-invasive way to examine individual bones and skeletal structure, and
determine the best course of action.
Sudip Singh | vice-president and global head, engineering services, Infosys
