Investigation of fracture mechanism for calcaneus

The calcaneus, the heel bone at the foot, is one of the most important bones for weight bearing. This bone supports almost the entire weight of the body when it contacts on the ground. Younger people suffer calcaneus fractures due to larger external forces such as a fall form a height or an accident while driving. However, calcaneus fracture in the elderly are often suffered by small external forces. Calcaneus fracture in the elderly have increased in recent years. For the proper treatment of calcaneus fractures, it is important to understand the fracture mechanism. The purpose of this study was to examine the risk of fracture of the calcaneus by performing FE analysis. A finite element (FE) model of the calcaneus was constructed based on CT images of the foot, and FE analysis was performed under three load conditions.