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

ABSTRACT 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.