TITLE:
Pilot study on the Non-Invasive Detectability of Femoral Neck Fractures with Frequency Response Functions
AUTHORS:
Wolfgang Witteveen, Carina Wagner, Patrick Jachs, Stefan Froschauer, Harald Schöffl
KEYWORDS:
Biomechanics, Vibrations, Frequency Response Function, FRF, Femoral Neck Fracture
JOURNAL NAME:
World Journal of Mechanics,
Vol.4 No.7,
July
28,
2014
ABSTRACT:
A
suspicion of a femoral neck fracture is a frequently recurring situation,
especially in nursing homes. For the clarification of such a suspicion normally
imaging techniques are used. Such equipment is expensive and therefore is
located in hospitals. In addition to the costs, a transport causes stress for
the patient. This pilot study is devoted to the question whether the detection
of a femoral neck fracture with vibration measurements is possible in
principal. In such a case, the clarification could be done on-site by an
ordinary person using much cheaper equipment. This would reduce the stress for
the patient and save money. For this purpose vibration measurements on a dead
body with intact, with partially fractured and with complete cut femoral neck
have been performed. Two different methods for the vibration initiation have
been investigated, the so called impact testing and the shaker testing. The
frequency response function has been determined for all combinations on both
sides of the body. It turned out that there is a clear difference in the
frequency response functions of the fractured bone with respect to the intact
bone when shaker testing is used. This indicates that the method could have the
potential to be a cost-saving alternative to imaging techniques. However, in a
next step a statistically reliable clinical survey on living persons needs to
be done.