Clinical Measurements of Bone Tissue Mechanical Behavior Using Reference Point Indentation

AbstractOver the last 30  years, it has become increasingly clear the amount of bone (e.g., “bone quantity”) and the quality of the bone matrix (e.g., “bone quality”) both critically contribute to bone’s tissue-level mechanical behavior and the subsequent ability of bone to resist fracture. Although determining t he tissue-level mechanical behavior of bone through mechanical testing is relatively straightforward in the laboratory, the destructive nature of such testing is unfeasible in humans and in animal models requiring longitudinal observation. Therefore, surrogate measurements are necessary for quantify ing tissue-level mechanical behavior for the pre-clinical and clinical evaluation of bone strength and fracture risk in vivo. A specific implementation of indentation known as reference point indentation (RPI) enables the mechanical testing of bone tissue without the need to excise and prepare the b one surface. However, this compromises the ability to carefully control the specimen geometry that is required to define the bone tissue material properties. Yet, the versatility of such measurements in clinical populations is provocative, and to date, there are a number of promising studies that ha ve utilized this tool to discern bone pathologies and to monitor the effects of therapeutics on bone quality. Concurrently, ongoing efforts continue to investigate the aspects of bone material behavior measured by RPI and the compositional factors that contribute to thes...
Source: Clinical Reviews in Bone and Mineral Metabolism - Category: Internal Medicine Source Type: research