Abstract
A new non-destructive method was applied in order to assess bone integrity. The method is based on measurement of bone dynamic characteristics (MDF and QF) by applying vibration excitation in the range of acoustic frequencies, in the form of an acoustic sweep signal. The method has been already applied on metallic structures and composites, including animal bones and has shown the potential to become a valuable assessment tool for monitoring bone structural changes. The measured characteristics are directly related with stress concentration due to discontinuities in the material of the bone, such as changes in porosity due to osteopenia. In turn, stress concentration is known to cause fracture in such materials. In this work, sheep femora were split in cuts and tested to detect changes in MDF - QF, BMD (kg/m2), RS and IEF, without the effect of soft tissue. MDF - QF are shown to be the best indicators and measures of the tendency of the bone to fracture, as compared to the conventional methods (BMD and RS) and to the absolute strength measure (IEF).
Highlights
Bone mineral density is recognized as the most important single determinant of fracture risk in osteoporotic populations [1,2]
Material damping factor γ is defined as the energy dissipated throughout the medium in one cycle of deformation, normalized with respect to the elastic energy stored during that cycle, representing the fraction of strain energy lost in one full cycle [22]
On the basis of the methods described above, modal damping factor ζ (MDF) and Bone Mineral (BMD) values were acquired experimentally on women’s tibiae in-vivo, in order to verify the belief that damping change due to change in bone porosity is correlating with density and strength changes
Summary
Bone mineral density is recognized as the most important single determinant of fracture risk in osteoporotic populations [1,2]. Many other skeletal and extra skeletal factors and conditions may influence an individual’s risk of developing a fracture, as in particular, a hip fracture [3]. The ability of bone to withstand traumatic insults is the result of both the amount of mineralised tissue per unit of volume (density), and many other factors that are commonly referred to as bone quality. Loss of trabecular connectivity is considered one of the critical factors that weaken bone strength in osteoporosis [4]. Data are still limited, this architectural abnormality may independently constitute an important factor for predicting fracture risk [5]
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