Prediction of displacement in the equine third metacarpal bone using a neural network prediction algorithm

Abstract

Bone is a nonlinear, inhomogeneous and anisotropic material. To predict the behavior of bones expert systems are employed to reduce the computational cost and to enhance the accuracy of simulations. In this study, an artificial neural network (ANN) was used for the prediction of displacement in long bones followed by ex-vivo experiments. Three hydrated third metacarpal bones (MC3) from 3 thoroughbred horses were used in the experiments. A set of strain gauges were distributed around the midshaft of the bones. These bones were then loaded in compression in an MTS machine. The recordings of strains, load, load exposure time, and displacement were used as ANN input parameters. The ANN which was..