Utilization of Multiple Modalities for Imaging and Analyzing Kinematics of the Lower Extremities

The hip joint is a complex structure made up of many different muscles, ligaments, and bones. Mathematically modeling such a joint has become more and more popular due to the non-invasive nature of mathematical modeling compared to in-vivo testing. Previous versions of such a model set a great foundation, but further development and analyses were necessary to further the understanding of the hip joint.

Several features were added such as the ability to detect neck impingement and tracking of the foot version angle throughout an activity. With most of the development done, it was time to start utilizing the hip model in larger analyses. One area that was focused on in these analyses using the hip model was 2D vs 3D planning and how differences in the bone morphology could affect the outcomes depending on if they were considered. Another study that utilized the hip model focused on changes in foot version angle and how they affected a patient’s postoperative kinematics. Outside of the hip model, the studies focused on comparing different segmentation methods for bone model creation as well as gathering femoral morphology for a comparison between the internal and external features to further understanding of the femoral canal.

In this dissertation, the primary objective was to perform several hip analysis studies utilizing the hip analysis software. These studies included comparisons across several hip implants, as well as comparing different preoperative planning techniques and how they affected postoperative outcomes. The secondary objective was further development of the fully functional hip analysis software to take a closer look at the femoral morphology, as well as include new features to be able to fully analyze out-of-plane information not found in 2D planning.