Mechanical Properties Of Cancellous Bone Research Articles

The effect of specimen end support on experimental measurement of cancellous bone mechanical properties

Disuse osteopenia has shown to decrease bone mineral density and compromise bone's integrity, i.e., in aging population and long-term functional disuse. The degree of attenuation of trabecular bone loss and deterioration of its microarchitecture is closely dependent on the mechanical loading parameters within the regimen. Dynamic muscle stimulation as a preventive countermeasure for disuse osteopenia has been shown to be effective. The objective of this study is to determine whether the contraction-to-rest ratio is a crucial parameter to affect the skeletal adaptive responses under a functional disuse environment. Fifty-six skeletally matured Sprague–Dawley rats were divided into seven groups for the 4-week experiment: baseline control, age-matched control, hindlimb suspended (HLS), and HLS plus muscle stimulation with a contraction-to-rest ratio of 1/4, 2/8, 4/6, and 2/28 s. Muscle stimulation was carried out for total of 10 min/day, 5 days/week, for 4 weeks. Trabecular bone in the distal femurs was analyzed with microcomputed tomography and histomorphometry. HLS alone for 4-week resulted in a 25–45% trabecular bone loss in the distal femur. Dynamic muscle stimulation, applied at 50 Hz frequency, with a 2/8 s contraction-to-rest ratio demonstrated significant attenuation of trabecular bone loss against the 4-week disuse, with up to + 74% in bone volume fraction, + 164% in connectivity, + 20% in trabecular number, and − 18% in spacing (p < 0.05). Stimulation with 1/4 and 4/6 also showed similar effects but with lesser percentage differences when comparing to the HLS animals. Similarly, histomorphometric analysis showed partial enhancement in mineralizing surface and mineral apposition rate. The results suggested the potentials of dynamic muscle stimulation in regulating skeletal adaptive responses and illustrated the effects of optimized contraction-to-rest in mitigation of bone loss, in which 2/8 s has shown maximal adaptive response among all tested ratios.

The relationship between the structural and orthogonal compressive properties of trabecular bone

In this study, cubes of trabecular bone with a wide range of structural properties were scanned on a micro-computed tomography system to produce complete three-dimensional digitizations from which morphological and architectural parameters could be measured in a nondestructive manner. The cubes were then mechanically tested in uniaxial compression in three orthogonal directions and to failure in one direction to find the orthogonal tangent elastic moduli and ultimate strengths. After testing, the cubes were weighed and ashed to determine the apparent and ash densities. A high correlation between the basic stereologic measurements was found, indicating that there is a relationship between the amount of bone and number of trabeculae in cancellous bone. Regression analysis was used to estimate the modulus and ultimate strength; these regressions accounted for 68–90% of the variance in these measures. These relationships were dependent on the metaphyseal type and donor, with the modulus also dependent on the direction of testing. This indicates that the properties of the individual trabeculae, as well as their amount and organization, may be important in predicting the mechanical properties of cancellous bone.

Separate effects of osteoporosis and density on the strength and stiffness of human cancellous bone

The question this paper attempts to answer is whether osteoporosis has any effect on the mechanical properties of cancellous bone, except that produced by osteoporotic bone being generally less dense. The general density of the heads of the tibia, which we took as a surrogate measure of osteoporosis, was measured on the tibias of nine women using dual energy X-ray absorptiometry, and cubes cut from these tibias were tested mechanically. Equations were derived relating Young's modulus of elasticity and strength to the densities of the cubes, to their ‘fabric’ (a measure of anisotropy) and to ‘mineral volume density’ (a measure of the general density of the bone from the head of each tibia). Density and fabric between them accounted for about 80% of the variance in strength and in stiffness of the cubes, and adding mineral volume density as an explanatory variable had no effect on the explanatory power of the equations. Fabric was completely uncorrelated with density or mineral volume density. We conclude that although, obviously, osteoporosis weakens bones by making them less dense, there is no evidence that osteoporosis weakens bones in any other way. If there is an effect, it must be subtle.

On Wolff's law of trabecular architecture

Several studies suggest that the yield strain in cancellous bone may be uniformly distributed and isotropic. Yield strain was reported to be independent of textural anisotropy in bovine cancellous bone [Turner, J. biomech. Engng, 111, 1–5 (1989)] and it is plausible that yield strain is isotropic in human cancellous bone as well. In this paper, it is hypothesized that uniform, isotropic strain represents a goal of cancellous bone adaptation, i.e. cancellous bone alters its structure to maintain uniform, isotropic peak strains. Therefore, textural anisotropy must exactly cancel the anisotropy of the peak principal stresses imposed upon cancellous bone. When evaluating the relationships between mechanical properties of cancellous bone and trabecular architecture, it was found that over 90% of the variance of yield strength can be explained by one term— ϱ 2, H ̃ 3 (where ϱ is apparent density and H ̃ is the normalized anisotropy (fabric) constant). Furthermore, this single term explains 70–78% of the variance in Young's modulus of cancellous bone. Based upon these findings, it was postulated that fabric adaptation goes as H i H j =| σ ̂ i σ ̂ j | 1 3 , where H 1 and H j are fabric eigenvalues in the i- and the j-direction and σ ̂ i and σ ̂ j are peak principal stresses.

Stiffening of the Femoral Head Due to Intertrabecular Fluid and Intraosseous Pressure

The mechanical properties of cancellous bone, as measured from bone plug samples have been widely documented. However, few tests have been attempted to explore the effects the intertrabecular contents may have on the load bearing capabilities. In this study, canine femoral heads were subjected to dynamic compressive strain cycles. The femoral heads were tested intact, as well as with disrupted boundary conditions of the continuous, intraosseous fluid space. A significant reduction in mechanical stiffness was observed when the fluid compartment boundary was disrupted by drilling a hole part way into the femoral neck. A finite element model of a typical femoral head showed that the stiffness change was not due to removal of material from the neck, hydraulic effects notwithstanding. Refilling the hole in the neck with saline solution and sealing the boundary restored the stiffness to the intact baseline level. However, an increase in the fluid pressure did not cause a statistically significant increase in the stiffness of the femoral head.

Density and temperature effects on some mechanical properties of cancellous bone.

Density and temperature effects on some mechanical properties of cancellous bone.

Power law models for the mechanical properties of cancellous bone.

This note is a discussion of the merits or otherwise of using linear rather than power law regression models in some biomechanical analyses.

Material properties of femoral cancellous bone in axial loading

The time independent material behavior of cylindrical specimens obtained from the cancelous bone of 20 cadaveric human femora were determined. In this part of the publication, the nominal values for compressive strength, limits of elasticity (yield point), strain, elastic modulus and apparent density are being reported for the cancellous bone of the femoral head and condyle. The correlations between the various parameters are analysed. A positive linear correlation between the four parameters compressive stength, limit of elasticity, modulus of elasticity and apparent density could not be excluded. The material properties vary considerably both within one single bone and between individuals. Compressive strength, modulus of elasticity and apparent density found for cancellous bone of the femoral head are greater than those found in the condyles. Within the condyles, compressive strength, elastic modulus and apparent density increase from the proximal parts to the parts closer to the joint. The medial femoral condyle showed higher compressive strength than the lateral one. Relating each of the three other parameters to the apparent density of the individual specimen did not result in equalizing the data for the material properties. This indicates that the mechanical properties of cancellous bone are strongly related to the direction of loading.

Tensile fracture of cancellous bone.

Excised specimens of cancellous bone from human femora were subjected to compressive or tensile testing, and the resulting force-displacement curves were recorded. The relationships between bone strength and apparent density were similar for specimens tested in these two loading modes. The modulus of elasticity was also comparable for the tensile and compressive specimens. Specimens loaded in compression absorbed considerable energy after the initial fracture because of progressive impaction of the trabeculae. In the specimens loaded in tension, the fractured bone fragments separated and therefore absorbed little additional energy after the initial failure. The energy absorption capacity was thus significantly lower for the tensile specimens. The results of this study show that the primary difference in mechanical properties of cancellous bone tested in tension and compression is the energy absorption capacity. This finding suggests that tensile and avulsion fractures of cancellous bone observed clinically are associated with minimal energy absorption and therefore may be precipitated by relatively minor trauma.