The microstructural tensile properties and biochemical composition of the bovine distal femoral growth plate

Abstract

The tensile properties of distal femoral growth plates from 12-month-old cows were determined on uniformly prepared straight bone-growth plate-bone specimens (7 x 7 mm2 in cross-section) from predetermined anatomical sites on the physis. Each specimen was distracted to failure using a computer-controlled servo-hydraulic testing machine at a strain rate of 0.004 s-1. It was found that the exponential constitutive law, using finite deformation formulation for strain, provides an excellent description of the stress-strain behavior of all the specimens up to the point of failure. The ultimate stress and both tangent moduli (i.e., the toe region tangent modulus and the tangent modulus calculated at 75% of ultimate strain) varied with anatomical site. The anterior region was the strongest, followed by the posterior/lateral. The anterior and posterior/lateral regions were also the stiffest, whereas the posterior/medial and center regions were the weakest and most compliant. The bone-growth plate-bone specimen exhibited a low ultimate strain (13.8% +/- 6%) that did not vary significantly throughout the growth plate. This result suggests that disruption of the physis may occur in vivo even at the lower distractions currently recommended for the clinical chondrodiatasis procedure for leg lengthening. The biochemical composition of the growth plate in the anatomical regions correlated well with the tensile properties. There was a greater collagen content in the regions that were the stiffest and strongest. The gross morphology of the growth plate of the bovine distal femur is also described in this study. There is a regular pattern to the undulations of the physis at several dimensional levels. Histologic findings showed that orientation of the hypertrophic cell columns and transphyseal septa are aligned nearly parallel to the longitudinal axis of the diaphyseal shaft. This column orientation is not affected by the undulation of the primary contour of the physis, which at certain locations may be inclined as much as 60 degrees relative to the diaphyseal axis. The orientation of the hypertrophic cell columns appears to be one of the dominant microstructural features influencing the tensile behavior of the bone-growth plate-bone specimens.