Figure 4
Effect of design variation on the stress distribution in the implants. For the situation of an extended bone defect (Paprosky type IIb) this figure demonstrates the effect of femoral offset on the maximum principle (i.e. tensile) stresses within the implant. The implant elements were grouped according to their stress (denoted by the symbol σ) level. This data is presented as a histogram in image A (top), where the data are reported as a percentage of the total number of elements in the implant. Below, image B compares the stress distributions along the lateral aspect of the implant for a type IIIb defect for the two different offsets. It can be seen that the implant with the increased offset experiences larger tensile stresses.