Muhammad Kozin, Muhammad Imam Ammarullah, Abdulfatah Abdu Yusuf, Aghni Ulma Saudi, Siti Amalina Azahra, I. Nyoman Jujur, Muhammad Hirzan Arrifqi, Moch. Agus Choiron
Traffic accidents are the leading cause of traumatic fractures worldwide, with tibial fractures being the most common lower-extremity injury. Open tibial fractures pose significant clinical challenges due to their high risk of infection and non-union, requiring effective stabilisation. External fixators are widely used for this purpose, but their biomechanical performance must be evaluated under both standardised and patient-specific conditions. This study presents a finite element analysis of an external fixator tailored to Indonesian patients, using two frameworks: the ASTM F1541-02 standard protocol and a tibia-based model derived from patient geometry. Von Mises stress distributions were assessed under axial compression, torsional loading, and four-point bending. Results showed that stresses predicted by ASTM F1541-02 were consistently higher than those from the tibia-based model, particularly under torsion and bending, though all values remained below material yield strength. These findings indicate that the fixator design is safe, while emphasising that tibia-based modelling provides more physiologically realistic predictions. The study shows the importance of patient-specific anatomy in computational biomechanics and points to future directions in design optimisation and localized manufacturing. © 2026 The Author(s). Healthcare Technology Letters published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of The Institution of Engineering and Technology.
Research Center for Advanced Materials, Badan Riset dan Inovasi Nasional (BRIN), Banten, South Tangerang, Indonesia; Bioengineering and Environmental Sustainability Research Centre, University of Liberia, Montserrado, Monrovia, Liberia; Department of Biomedical Engineering and Health Sciences, Faculty of Electrical Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Johor, Johor Bahru, Malaysia; Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Universitas Diponegoro, Central Java, Semarang, Indonesia; Department of Mechanical Engineering, College of Engineering, University of Liberia, Montserrado, Monrovia, Liberia; Zenith Allmart Precisindo, East Java, Sidoarjo, Indonesia; Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Universitas Brawijaya, East Java, Malang, Indonesia
