| Term | Definition |
| Anisotropic | A material that consists of more than one property in various areas and direction |
| Bi-cortical screws | Screws that penetrate both cortices of bone |
| Biomechanical | Study of the action of external and internal forces on the living body, especially on the skeletal system |
| CT | Computer tomography-computer-processed combinations of many X-ray measurements taken from different angles to produce cross-sectional images of specific areas of a scanned object |
| DICOM | Digital imaging and communications in medicine. It is an image format usually containing CT images |
| Discretization (Meshing) | The process of changing a solid body into smaller finite elements |
| Elastic Modulus (Young’s Modulus) | Measurement of stiffness of a solid material |
| FEA | Finite Element Analysis, a computerized method for predicting how a product reacts to real-world forces, vibration, heat, fluid flow, and other physical effects |
| Hooke’s Law | The principle of stress imposed on a solid is directly proportional to the strain produced, within the elastic limit |
| IGES | Initial Graphics Exchange Specification, file format that allows the digital exchange of information among computer-aided design (CAD) systems |
| Invesalius | Computer software that allows conversion of DICOM images into STL |
| In-vitro | Studies performed outside of biological context |
| Isotropic | A material that is uniform in all areas and direction |
| Mono-cortical screws | Screws that penetrate a single bone cortex |
| Netfabb | Computer software that allows editing and repair of surface polygons |
| Newton (N) | A measurement unit for force |
| NURBS | Non-uniform rational basis spline (NURBS) is a mathematical model commonly used in computer graphics for generating and representing curves and surfaces |
| Pa (Pascal) | Pascal, SI unit to quantify stress which is equivalent to 1N per square meter. 1 Mega Pascal (MPa) = 1000 Pa, and 1 Giga Pascal (GPa) = 1000 MPa |
| Poisson’s ratio | The ability of a structure to resist deformation in a direction perpendicular to that of the applied load. |
| Rhinoceros | Computer software that allows creation and manipulation of NURBS |
| Simulation in Solidworks | An internal programme of Solidworks that runs FEA |
| Solidworks | Computer software that allows creation, editing and manipulation of 3D solid models |
| STL | Stereolithography, a file format used to represent surfaces with a series of triangles |
| Strain | The measurement of the deformation of a material |
| Stress | The force per unit area applied to an object |
| Von Mises Stress | The equivalent tensile stress used to predict the yielding of materials, when they are placed under loads from different directions |