ISSN: 1449-1907International Journal of Medical Sciences
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Int J Med Sci 2013; 10(11):1560-1569. doi:10.7150/ijms.6611 This issue Cite
Research Paper
Relationship between Microstructure, Material Distribution, and Mechanical Properties of Sheep Tibia during Fracture Healing Process
1. Department of Engineering Mechanics, Jilin University, Changchun (130022), People's Republic of China;
2. Department of Radiology, People's Hospital of Jilin Province, Changchun (130021), People's Republic of China;
3. Traumatic Orthopedics, The First Hospital of Jilin University, Changchun (130025), People's Republic of China;
4. Key Laboratory for Biomechanics and Mechanobiology of Ministry of Education, School of Biological Science and Medical Engineering, Beihang University, Beijing (100191), People's Republic of China.
Abstract
The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between microstructural parameters, material distribution, and mechanical properties of sheep tibia at the apparent and tissue levels during the fracture healing process. Eighteen sheep underwent tibial osteotomy and were sacrificed at 4, 8, and 12 weeks. Radiographs and micro-computed tomography (micro-CT) scanning were taken for microstructural assessment, material distribution evaluation, and micro-finite element analysis. A displacement of 5% compressive strain on the longitudinal direction was applied to the micro-finite element model, and apparent and tissue-level mechanical properties were calculated. Principle component analysis and linear regression were used to establish the relationship between principle components (PCs) and mechanical parameters. Visible bony callus formation was observed throughout the healing process from radiographic assessment. Apparent mechanical property increased at 8 weeks, but tissue-level mechanical property did not increase significantly until 12 weeks. Three PCs were extracted from microstructural parameters and material distribution, which accounted for 87.592% of the total variation. The regression results showed a significant relationship between PCs and mechanical parameters (R>0.8, P<0.05). Results of this study show that microstructure and material distribution based on micro-CT imaging could efficiently predict bone strength and reflect the bone remodeling process during fracture healing, which provides a basis for exploring the fracture healing mechanism and may be used as an approach for fractured bone strength assessment.
Keywords: Fracture healing process, Tibia, Microstructure, Material distribution, Mechanical properties.
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