Meeting Abstract

P1.49  Sunday, Jan. 4  Modelling cranial sutures in Finite Element Analysis: a validation study using the domestic pig BRIGHT, J A; University of Bristol j.bright@bristol.ac.uk

The use of Finite Element Analysis (FEA) to investigate feeding mechanics is becoming increasingly common. However, what little work has been done to validate the technique has been conducted almost exclusively on primates. This work represents the first attempt to validate cranial FE models of a non-primate mammal, by comparing specimen-specific models of the domestic pig, Sus scrofa, with strain data collected in vitro. Cranial sutures have been largely overlooked in FE models, despite evidence suggesting their important structural role as "shock-absorbers", dissipating dangerously high strains. The pig models were loaded at the tooth row, and potentially functionally important sutures (zygomatic, coronal, maxillary-premaxillary) introduced in one of three ways; fused, open, or assigned elastic properties of collagen within sutures. Results show that sutures notably affect strain patterns throughout the skull, and more attention should be paid to their role in cranial FE modelling.