Determination of the heterogeneous anisotropic elastic properties of human femoral bone: From nanoscopic to organ scale

Abstract Cortical bone is a multiscale composite material. Its elastic properties are anisotropic and heterogeneous across its cross-section, due to endosteal bone resorption which might affect bone strength. The aim of this paper was to describe a homogenization method leading to the estimation of...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of biomechanics 2010-07, Vol.43 (10), p.1857-1863
Main Authors: Sansalone, V, Naili, S, Bousson, V, Bergot, C, Peyrin, F, Zarka, J, Laredo, J.D, Haïat, G
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Aged
Anisotropy
Bioengineering
Biological and medical sciences
Bone and Bones - ultrastructure
Bone density
Bone Matrix - ultrastructure
Bones
Collagen
Cortical bone
Degree of mineralization of bone tissue
Elasticity
Femur - diagnostic imaging
Femur Neck - diagnostic imaging
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Homogenization method
Humans
Imaging
Life Sciences
Mechanical properties
Medical imaging
Mortality
Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation
Porosity
Regression analysis
Skeleton and joints
Spatial dependence of bone properties
Studies
Synchrotrons
Tomography
Tomography, X-Ray Computed
Vertebrates: osteoarticular system, musculoskeletal system
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Abstract Cortical bone is a multiscale composite material. Its elastic properties are anisotropic and heterogeneous across its cross-section, due to endosteal bone resorption which might affect bone strength. The aim of this paper was to describe a homogenization method leading to the estimation of the variation of the elastic coefficients across the bone cross-section and along the bone longitudinal axis. The method uses the spatial variations of bone porosity and of the degree of mineralization of the bone matrix (DMB) obtained from the analysis of 3-D synchrotron micro-computed tomography images. For all three scales considered (the foam (100 nm), the ultrastructure (5 μm) and the mesoscale (500 μm)), the elastic coefficients were determined using the Eshelby’s inclusion problem. DMB values were used at the scale of the foam. Collagen was introduced at the scale of the ultrastructure and bone porosity was introduced at the mesoscale. The pores were considered as parallel cylinders oriented along the bone axis. Each elastic coefficient was computed for different regions of interest, allowing an estimation of its variations across the bone cross-section and along the bone longitudinal axis. The method was applied to a human femoral neck bone specimen, which is a site of osteoporotic fracture. The computed elastic coefficients for cortical bone were in good agreement with experimental results, but some discrepancies were obtained in the endosteal part (trabecular bone). These results highlight the importance of accounting for the heterogeneity of cortical bone properties across bone cross-section and along bone longitudinal axis.
ISSN:0021-9290
1873-2380
DOI:10.1016/j.jbiomech.2010.03.034