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2025/01/20 | People | Biomechanics

PhD Defense: Mathieu Simon Investigates Methods for Accurate Bone Fracture Prediction

On January 20, 2025, Mathieu Simon successfully defended his PhD thesis titled: “Multi-Scale Bone Morphology – Mechanical Property Relations in Ageing and Disease.” In this thesis, Mathieu investigated methods of bone analysis which could replace the current gold standard, dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry (DXA). His dissertation proposes that high-resolution peripheral quantitative computed tomography (HR-pQCT) represents a good surrogate for in vivo bone mechanical properties estimation and, based on HR-pQCT scans, homogenized finite element (hFE) analysis provides accurate estimation of distal tibia sections as compared to mechanical experiment.

@Mathieu Simon

He found that morphology-mechanical properties relations of trabecular bone, an assumption of hFE, are extremely robust and are conserved in case of osteogenesis imperfecta, the brittle bone disease. He further notes that, using an in-house automatic segmentation model, the cortical bone microstructure shows significant changes with anatomical location but is relatively steady with ageing. These results, he proposes, increase confidence in HR-pQCT-based bone health estimation and encourage its use in clinical routine.

Congratulations to Dr. Mathieu Simon on this incredible achievement and for making a significant contribution to the prevention and diagnosis of bone-related diseases!

@Mathieu Simon

Publications:

Simon, Mathieu; Indermaur, Michael; Schenk, Denis; Hosseinitabatabaei, Seyedmahdi; Willie, Bettina M.; Zysset, Philippe (2022). Fabric-elasticity relationships of tibial trabecular bone are similar in osteogenesis imperfecta and healthy individuals. Bone 155(116282). 10.1016/j.bone.2021.116282

Simon, Mathieu; Indermaur, Michael; Schenk, Denis; Voumard, Benjamin; Zderic, Ivan; Mischler, Dominic; Pretterklieber, Michael; Zysset, Philippe (2024). Homogenized finite element analysis of distal tibia sections: Achievements and limitations. Bone Reports 21(101752). Elsevier 10.1016/j.bonr.2024.101752

Simon, Mathieu; Owusu, Silvia; Bracher, Stefan; Bosshardt, Dieter; Pretterklieber, Michael; Zysset, Philippe (2025). Automatic segmentation of cortical bone microstructure: application and analysis of three proximal femur sites. Bone 193(117404). Elsevier 10.1016/j.bone.2025.117404