Abstract
In this study, we present finite element analysis models to calculate the increase in intrathoracic volume of pectus excavatum patients after the Nuss procedure. One virtue of our approach is that the measurement of the intrathoracic volume has no time difference and is not affected by postoperative pain, which cannot be achieved with a 2-year difference between pre- and postoperative pulmonary function testing or any other clinical method. The calculations show that the intrathoracic volume of pectus excavatum patients increased by approximately 2.72–8.88% after the Nuss procedure. The increment curve was patient-dependent, although the increment behavior was similar among the six patients examined. The curve of the increase became flat when the elevating force exceeded 80 N or the displacement of the lower sternal end exceeded 2.6 cm in half of our cases.
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Acknowledgments
This study was supported by the National Center for High-Performance Computing (NCHC), Hsinchu, Taiwan. The authors sincerely thank Dr. Lun-Jou Lo at Chang Gung Memorial Hospital (Taoyuan, Taiwan, ROC) for his assistance in creating the finite element models reported herein.
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Chang, PY., Hsu, ZY., Lai, JY. et al. Increase in intrathoracic volume in pectus excavatum patients after the Nuss procedure. Med Biol Eng Comput 48, 133–137 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11517-009-0570-9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11517-009-0570-9