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Biomechanical effects of intraspecimen variations in tissue modulus for trabecular bone
Michael J Jaasma1, Harun H Bayraktar, Glen L Niebur
1Orthopaedic Biomechanics Laboratory, Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of California, 2166 Etcheverry Hall, Berkeley, CA 94720-1740, USA. mjaasma@biomech1.me.berkeley.edu
Journal of Biomechanics
|January 11, 2002
Summary
Intraspecimen variations in trabecular bone tissue modulus significantly impact bone strength. Higher variations in modulus lead to decreased apparent modulus and increased tissue failure under load.
Area of Science:
- Biomechanics
- Materials Science
- Orthopedics
Background:
- Nanoindentation studies reveal significant variations in trabecular bone tissue modulus within single specimens.
- The biomechanical consequences of these intraspecimen variations remain largely unknown.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the biomechanical effects of intraspecimen variations in trabecular bone tissue modulus.
- To evaluate the influence of different spatial distributions and trabecular architectures on these effects.
Main Methods:
- High-resolution finite element modeling was employed.
- Two plausible spatial distributions of tissue modulus variation were assessed.
- Three distinct bone specimens (human femoral neck, human vertebral body, bovine proximal tibia) were analyzed.
Main Results:
- Apparent modulus decreased nonlinearly with increasing coefficient of variation (COV) of tissue modulus.
- A 20% to 50% increase in tissue modulus COV resulted in a 7-24% decrease in apparent modulus.
- Increasing tissue modulus COV from 20% to 50% led to a 28-fold increase in tissue failure.
Conclusions:
- Large intraspecimen variations in tissue modulus can significantly affect trabecular bone apparent modulus and tissue-level failure.
- The spatial distribution of these variations is crucial and warrants further investigation.
- Understanding these distributions may enhance insights into bone structure-function relationships.