Related Experiment Video
Updated: Feb 5, 2026

An Improved Mechanical Testing Method to Assess Bone-implant Anchorage
Published on: February 10, 2014
Effect of SR-microCT radiation on the mechanical integrity of trabecular bone using in situ mechanical testing and
Marta Peña Fernández1, Silvia Cipiccia2, Enrico Dall'Ara3
1Zeiss Global Centre, School of Engineering, University of Portsmouth, Portsmouth, UK.
Abstract:
The use of synchrotron radiation micro-computed tomography (SR-microCT) is becoming increasingly popular for studying the relationship between microstructure and bone mechanics subjected to in situ mechanical testing. However, it is well known that the effect of SR X-ray radiation can considerably alter the mechanical properties of bone tissue. Digital volume correlation (DVC) has been extensively used to compute full-field strain distributions in bone specimens subjected to step-wise mechanical loading, but tissue damage from sequential SR-microCT scans has not been previously addressed. Therefore, the aim of this study is to examine the influence of SR irradiation-induced microdamage on the apparent elastic properties of trabecular bone using DVC applied to in situ SR-microCT tomograms obtained with different exposure times. Results showed how DVC was able to identify high local strain levels (> 10,000 µε) corresponding to visible microcracks at high irradiation doses (~ 230 kGy), despite the apparent elastic properties remained unaltered. Microcracks were not detected and bone plasticity was preserved for low irradiation doses (~ 33 kGy), although image quality and consequently, DVC performance were reduced. DVC results suggested some local deterioration of tissue that might have resulted from mechanical strain concentration further enhanced by some level of local irradiation even for low accumulated dose.
Related Concept Videos
Reaction Mechanisms
For instance, the decomposition of ozone appears to follow a mechanism with two steps:
Mechanical Protein Functions
The Quantum-Mechanical Model of an Atom
Line, Surface, and Volume Integrals
Mechanism of Conjugation
Calculation of Volume of Solids by Integration

