Multiscale Femoral Neck Imaging and Multimodal Trabeculae Quality Characterization in an Osteoporotic Bone Sample

: Although multiple structural, mechanical, and molecular factors are definitely involved in osteoporosis, the assessment of subregional bone mineral density remains the most commonly used diagnostic index. In this study, we characterized bone quality in the femoral neck of one osteoporotic patients as compared to an age-matched control subject, and so used a multiscale and multimodal approach including X-ray computed microtomography at different spatial resolutions (pixel size: 51.0, 4.95 and 0.9 µm), microindentation and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. Our results showed abnormalities in the osteocytes lacunae volume (358.08 ± 165.00 for the osteoporotic sample vs. 287.10 ± 160.00 for the control), whereas a statistical difference was found neither for shape nor for density. The osteoporotic femoral head and great trochanter reported reduced elastic modulus (Es) and hardness (H) compared to the control reference (-48% (p < 0.0001) and -34% (p < 0.0001), respectively for Es and H in the femoral head and -29% (p < 0.01) and -22% (p < 0.05), respectively for Es and H in the great trochanter), whereas the corresponding values in the femoral neck were in the same range. The spectral analysis could distinguish neither subregional differences in the osteoporotic sample nor between the osteoporotic and healthy samples. Although, infrared spectroscopic measurements were comparable among subregions, and so regardless of the bone osteoporotic status, the trabecular mechanical properties were comparable only in the femoral neck. These results illustrate that bone remodeling in osteoporosis is a non-uniform process with different rates in different bone anatomical regions, hence showing the interest of a clear analysis of the bone microarchitecture in the case of patients' osteoporotic evaluation

Mechanical properties of femoral trabecular bone in dogs

BACKGROUND: Studying mechanical properties of canine trabecular bone is important for a better understanding of fracture mechanics or bone disorders and is also needed for numerical simulation of canine femora. No detailed data about elastic moduli and degrees of anisotropy of canine femoral trabecular bone has been published so far, hence the purpose of this study was to measure the elastic modulus of trabecular bone in canine femoral heads by ultrasound testing and to assess whether assuming isotropy of the cancellous bone in femoral heads in dogs is a valid simplification. METHODS: From 8 euthanized dogs, both femora were obtained and cubic specimens were cut from the centre of the femoral head which were oriented along the main pressure and tension trajectories. The specimens were tested using a 100 MHz ultrasound transducer in all three orthogonal directions. The directional elastic moduli of trabecular bone tissue and degrees of anisotropy were calculated. RESULTS: The elastic modulus along principal bone trajectories was found to be 11.2 GPa ± 0.4, 10.5 ± 2.1 GPa and 10.5 ± 1.8 GPa, respectively. The mean density of the specimens was 1.40 ± 0.09 g/cm(3). The degrees of anisotropy revealed a significant inverse relationship with specimen densities. No significant differences were found between the elastic moduli in x, y and z directions, suggesting an effective isotropy of trabecular bone tissue in canine femoral heads. DISCUSSION: This study presents detailed data about elastic moduli of trabecular bone tissue obtained from canine femoral heads. Limitations of the study are the relatively small number of animals investigated and the measurement of whole specimen densities instead of trabecular bone densities which might lead to an underestimation of Young's moduli. Publications on elastic moduli of trabecular bone tissue present results that are similar to our data. CONCLUSION: This study provides data about directional elastic moduli and degrees of anisotropy of canine femoral head trabecular bone and might be useful for biomechanical modeling of proximal canine femora

Evaluation of the elastic modulus of cortical bone: adaptation of experimental protocols to small samples

38th Congress of the Societe-de-Biomecanique (SB), Marseille, FRANCE, 2013International audienceno abstrac

Numerical damage models using a structural approach: application in bones and ligaments

The purpose of the present study was to apply knowledge of structural properties to perform numerical simulations with models of bones and knee ligaments exposed to dynamic tensile loading leading to tissue damage. Compact bones and knee ligaments exhibit the same geometrical pattern in their different levels of structural hierarchy from the tropocollagen molecule to the fibre. Nevertheless, their mechanical behaviours differ considerably at the fibril level. These differences are due to the contribution of the joints in the microfibril-fibril-fibre assembly and to the mechanical properties of the structural components. Two finite element models of the fibrous bone and ligament structure were used to describe damage in terms of elastoplastic laws or joint decohesion processes

Femoral neck fracture prediction by anisotropic yield criteria

ABSTRACT: Osteoporosis is a bone disease related to age, it weakens bone structure by deterioration of the trabecular architecture and decreases the cortical envelop width and increases its porosity. Hip fractures are the more recurrent consequences of osteoporosis, and are the cause of morbidity and increase the rate of mortality. The fracture risk due to osteoporosis, is undertaken with Dual-Energy X-ray Absorptiometry (DEXA) which is an average of bone mineral density measurement, without taking into account the bone structure. The objective of this study was an experimental test to solicit the human proximal femurs by a physiological configuration (one leg stance phase of walking) to retrieve the clinical osteoporosis fractures and analysis the contribution of both cortical envelop and trabecular bone in the strength of femur structure. For this, transversely isotropic finite element models were developed from CT scan acquisition. The failure load assessment was insured by anisotropic yield behaviour criteria based on distortion energy criterion (Hill’s criterion) and taking into account the difference between tension and compression yield properties (Tsai– Wu’s criterion). The results found in this study showed the significance part of anisotropic yield behaviour of bone on proximal femur. The difference between compression and tension behaviour of human cortical bone, taken into account in the Tsai–Wu’s criterion, hold possible to predict the failure load. KEY-WORDS: 3D- reconstruction, finite element model, anisotropic yield behaviour. 1

A new method of describing damage in biological tissues using a structural approach

4th International Symposium on Computer Methods in Biomechanics and Biomedical Engineering, LISBON, PORTUGAL, OCT, 1999International audienceIn the context of both automobile accidents and competitive sport, biological tissues are often exposed to severe constraints, resulting in structural damage or fracture. The aim of the present structural modelling study was to determine the behaviour of bones and knee ligaments subjected to dynamic constraints, and to study their damage and failure processes. The present numerical model was based on a nanoscopic-microscopic-macroscopic description of the microfibril/fibril/fibre/ligament (or bone) assembly of both structures. It consists of a finite element model, which was used to simulate a fibrous structure mesh which has been damaged due to decohesive mechanisms between the fibres

Application of the Johnson-Cook plasticity model in the Finite Element simulations of the nanoindentation of the cortical bone

International audienceThe mechanical behavior of the cortical bone in nanoindentation is a complicated mechanical problem. The finite element analysis has commonly been assumed to be the most appropriate approach to this issue. One significant problem in nanoindentation modeling of the elastic-plastic materials is pileup deformation, which is not observed in cortical bone nanoindentation testing. This phenomenon depends on the work-hardening of materials; it doesn't occur for work-hardening materials, which suggests that the cor-tical bone could be considered as a work-hardening material. Furthermore, in a recent study [59], a plastic hardening until failure was observed on the micro-scale of a dry ovine osteonal bone samples subjected to micropillar compression. The purpose of the current study was to apply an isotropic hardening model in the finite element simulations of the nanoindentation of the cortical bone to predict its mechanical behavior. The Johnson-Cook (JC) model was chosen as the constitutive model. The finite element modeling in combination with numerical optimization was used to identify the unknown material constants and then the finite element solutions were compared to the experimental results. A good agreement of the numerical curves with the target loading curves was found and no pileup was predicted. A Design Of Experiments (DOE) approach was performed to evaluate the linear effects of the material constants on the mechanical response of the material. The strain hardening modulus and the strain hardening exponent were the most influential parameters. While a positive effect was noticed with the Young's modulus, the initial yield stress and the strain hardening modulus, an opposite 1 effect was found with the Poisson's ratio and the strain hardening exponent. Finally, the JC model showed a good capability to describe the elastoplastic behavior of the cortical bone