pyvXRAY 0.1.0

ABAQUS plug-in to create virtual x-rays from 3D finite element bone models

About

An ABAQUS plug-in to generate virtual x-rays from 3D finite element bone/implant models.

Can be used to analyse the results of a numerical bone remodelling analysis, or validate a bone remodelling algorithm by comparison to clinical results. In such situations, the bone density around a medical implant changes over time in response to the change in loading environment. Evaluation of such density changes can help predict the long term outcome of a particular implant design.

The resulting series of images can be analysed using BMDanalyse, which was developed for this purpose.

Installation

1. Installation of pyvXRAY with prebuilt extension module

   • Download the binary distribution (zip file) version of pyvXRAY appropriate for your system. These are currently available for Windows 32-bit and 64-bit only

   • Unzip the zip file to a convenient location

   • Copy the abaqus_plugins directory to one of the locations required by ABAQUS. See README.txt or the ABAQUS documentation for further details

2. Installation of pyvXRAY from source

   • Download source distribution (zip file) version of pyvXRAY

   • Unzip the zip file to a convenient location

   • Open a command window and browse to pyvXRAY folder containing setup.py

   • Build the extension modules using:

     >>> python setup.py build_ext --inplace
     

     See README.txt for more details on how to do this. Note that this should create file pyvXRAY/cythonMods.pyd (on Windows).

   • Copy the entire pyvXRAY to one of the abaqus_plugins directories that are searched by ABAQUS for plug-ins. See README.txt or the ABAQUS documentation for further details

How to use

To use pyvXRAY, follow these steps:

1. Open ABAQUS/CAE or ABAQUS/Viewer

2. Open the ABAQUS odb file in the current viewport

3. Run pyvXRAY by clicking the following from the ABAQUS toolbar:

   Plug-ins -> Bone modelling tools -> Create virtual x-rays

4. Fill in the required information in the pyvXRAY GUI. The required information includes:

   • The part set name of the bone and implant regions

   • The name of the fieldoutput representing bone density

   • A list of steps for which the virtual x-rays will be created (only the last frame in the step is used)

   • Details corresponding to sampling resolution and image size

5. Click ‘OK’ at the bottom of the pyvXRAY GUI to run

6. Look at the Python Scripting Window at the bottom of the ABAQUS GUI for progress and error messages

7. Analyse the images to investigate regional changes in bone density over time. BMDanalyse can be used for this purpose

Requirements

Note that there are a several requirements for using the current version of pyvRAY:

1. Requires ABAQUS, a commercially available, general purpose finite element analysis software program. ABAQUS requires a paid license available from SIMULIA

2. The finite element model must consist of quadratic tetrahedral element (ABAQUS element type C3D10/C3D10M)

3. The ABAQUS results file (odb) must contain a scalar variable that represents bone density