Investigation of Anatomical and Morphological Variations in the Femur of a Chinese Population Using Statistical Shape Model.

Publisher: Wiley on behalf of the Chinese Orthopedic Association Country of Publication: Australia NLM ID: 101501666 Publication Model: Print-Electronic Cited Medium: Internet ISSN: 1757-7861 (Electronic) Linking ISSN: 17577853 NLM ISO Abbreviation: Orthop Surg Subsets: MEDLINE

Publication: 2013- : Richmond, Vic. Wiley on behalf of the Chinese Orthopedic Association
Original Publication: Richmond, Vic. : Tianjin : Blackwell Pub. Asia ; Tianjin Hospital, 2009-

Femur*/anatomy & histology ; Femur*/diagnostic imaging ; Models, Statistical*; Humans ; Imaging, Three-Dimensional ; Principal Component Analysis ; Asian People ; Female ; China ; Male ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed ; Middle Aged ; Adult ; Anatomic Variation ; Aged ; Young Adult ; East Asian People

Objective: A comprehensive understanding of the anatomical structure of the femur is crucial for optimizing surgical approaches and improving prosthesis design. This study aims to conduct a thorough analysis of the anatomical structure of the Chinese femur using statistical shape models (SSM), thereby providing scientific evidence for clinical applications.
Method: In this study, the femoral CT data of 209 Chinese patients were collected for detailed 3D reconstruction to obtain a 3D model of the bilateral femur. Advanced 3D model alignment techniques and dense homologous mesh mapping methods were used to ensure the high accuracy and consistency of the models. Three-dimensional statistical shape modeling (SSM) and principal component analysis (PCA) methods were used to extract the main patterns of femoral morphology changes and further analyze the femoral morphology changes. On this basis, the effects of gender differences on femur morphology were further comparatively analyzed.
Results: This study successfully established a statistical shape model of the femur in the Chinese population and extracted patterns of femoral shape variation through principal component analysis. The first six principal components shape change patterns accounted for 82.7%, 3.4%, 2.7%, 2.5%, 2.0%, and 1.5% of the total change, respectively. The model of variation for each of the first six principal components accounted for more than 1% of the total anatomical variance and together explained 94.8% of the variance. PC01, PC02, PC03, PC04, and PC06 exhibited significant differences between sexes (p < 0.05).
Conclusion: By constructing a three-dimensional statistical shape model of the femur, this study reveals individual morphological variations as well as differences based on sex. This model not only deepens the understanding of the anatomical morphology of the Chinese femur but also provides an important scientific basis for the optimization of clinical surgical plans and the improvement of prosthesis design.
(© 2026 The Author(s). Orthopaedic Surgery published by Tianjin Hospital and John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd.)

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2022YFC2504300 National Key Research and Development Program of China; 2021-JCJQ-ZQ-020 National Defense Science and Technology Fund; National Clinical Research Center for Orthopedics, Sports Medicine and Rehabilitation

Keywords: anatomical morphology; femur; gender differences; principal component analysis; statistical shape model

Date Created: 20260210 Date Completed: 20260609 Latest Revision: 20260609

20260609

PMC12967706

10.1111/os.70262

41667120