We are pleased to announce the release of the Master’s thesis authored by Francesco Pais at the University of Rome Tor Vergata, entitled A Characterization of the Vertebral Body of L1 Vertebra’s Mechanical Properties through Statistical Shape and Appearance Modelling. The full thesis is now available for download.

This research presents a novel, non-invasive methodology for the biomechanical analysis of the L1 vertebra, integrating clinical imaging data with advanced computational modeling techniques. Anatomical information derived from computed tomography (CT) scans of multiple subjects was employed to create isotopological meshes using RBF-based mesh morphing (via RBF Morph). These meshes served as the foundation for a Statistical Shape and Appearance Model (SSAM), which was constructed to establish correlations between vertebral morphology and mechanical behavior.

Principal Component Analysis (PCA) was applied to identify the dominant modes of anatomical and mechanical variation, while Leave-One-Out Cross-Validation (LOOCV) was used to assess the generalizability and robustness of the model.

The resulting framework enables the reconstruction of subject-specific vertebrae from sparse or low-resolution input data, offering a valuable tool for digital twin development, surgical planning, and the design of customized implants. This work represents a significant contribution to the field of predictive biomechanics and the advancement of personalized computational models for spinal healthcare.

The complete thesis is available for download here.