Sensitivity analysis of shoulder joint muscles by using the FEM model

Abstract

Shoulder pain, injury and discomfort are public health and economic issues world-wide. The function of these joints and the stresses developed during their movement is a major concern to the orthopedic surgeon to study precisely the injury mechanisms and thereby analyze the post-operative progress of the injury. Shoulder is one of the most critical joints in the human anatomy with maximum degrees of freedom. It mainly consists of the clavicle, scapula and humerus; the articulations linking them; and the muscles that move them. In order to understand the behavior of individual muscle during abduction arm movement, an attempt has been made to analyze the stresses developed in the shoulder muscles during abduction arm movement during the full range of motion by using the 3D FEM model. 3D scanning (ATOS III scanner) is used for the 3D shoulder joint cad model generation in CATIA V5. Muscles are added and then exported to the ANSYS APDL solver for stress analysis. Sensitivity Analysis is done for stress and strain behavior amongst different shoulder muscles; deltoid, supraspinatus, teres minor, infraspinatus, and subscapularies during adduction arm movement. During the individual deltoid muscle analysis, the von Mises stresses induced in deltoid muscle was maximum (4.2175 MPa) and in group muscle analysis it was (2.4127MPa) compared to other individual four rotor cuff muscles. The study confirmed that deltoid muscle is more sensitive muscle for the abduction arm movement during individual and group muscle analysis. The present work provides in depth information to the researchers and orthopedicians for the better understanding about the shoulder mechanism and the most stressed muscle during the abduction arm movement at different ROM. So during rehabilitation, the orthopedicians should focus on strengthening the deltoid muscles at earliest.