experience. Therefore, it is paramount to develop better diagnostic tools for better identifying patients with high risk of fracture and treat them with interventions that project the skeleton. In our group we have developed Subject Specific Computed Tomography (CT)-based Finite Element (FE) models (CT-SSFE) to predict the bone strength in metastatic vertebrae, showing that they are reproducible [1], they can replicate deformation patterns measured experimentally [2], they can identify critical lesions to be treated [3], and can be used to evaluate the effect of cancer treatments on bone strength [4]. Recently, the development of CT scanners that use photon counting detectors (PCCT) is revolutionising the way CT imaging is done, thanks to their higher resolution and lower radiation dose. Therefore, PCCT-SSFE models have great potential in assessing the effect of metastatic lesions on the vertebral strength. This PhD project, linked to the METASTRA and SPIRO projects at the Insigneo institute of the University of Sheffield, aims at developing, validating and applying the first PCCT-SSFE for metastatic vertebrae to identify the cancer patients at high risk of fracture and optimise their treatment.
Proposed start date: 01 March 2027
Entry Requirements
Candidates must have a first or upper second class honours degree or significant research experience.
In addition, candidates must be self-motivated, have the ability to think independently, use own initiative, have good communications skills and be well-organised including good time management.
Experience in biomechanics and/or image processing would be desirable but not essential.
How to apply
Please complete a University Postgraduate Research Application form available here: www.shef.ac.uk/postgraduate/research/apply
Funding Notes
This opportunity is for self-funded applicants who are able to fund this themselves, or obtain funding from another source (Government sponsored etc).
This project is for 3.5 years, so applicants will be required to fund 3.5 years of tuition fees and an additional £1500 per year for 3.5 years to run the project.
This is open to both home and overseas applicants.
Further information on tuition fees can be found on the following webpage - View Website
References
- Assessing the reproducibility of a subject-specific finite element modelling pipeline for the human metastatic vertebrae. Roger R, Ghosh R, Cai Y, Gibson F, Lazáry Á, Guo L, Lacroix D, Dall'Ara E. Sci Rep. 2026 Apr 7;16(1):16092. doi: 10.1038/s41598-026-46900-4
- Comparing the predictions of CT-based subject-specific finite element models of human metastatic vertebrae with digital volume correlation measurements. Garavelli C, Aldieri A, Palanca M, Dall'Ara E, Viceconti M. Biomech Model Mechanobiol. 2025 Jun;24(3):1017-1030. doi: 10.1007/s10237-025-01950-x.
- Prediction of compressive strength of vertebral body with metastatic lesions based on quantitative computed tomography-based subject-specific finite element models. Ghosh R, Shearman E, Roger R, Palanca M, Dall'Ara E, Lacroix D. Bone. 2026 Jun 6;211:117961. doi: 10.1016/j.bone.2026.117961.
- Strong correlation between phantomless and inline phantom-based densitometric calibration of vertebral properties from CT scans of healthy volunteers. Gibson FG, Ding Z, Paggiosi MA, Handforth C, Brown JE, Li X, Dall'Ara E, Verbruggen SW. Front Bioeng Biotechnol. 2026 May 29;14:1781532. doi:10.3389/fbioe.2026.1781532.
