Full‐field strain of regenerated bone tissue in a femoral fracture model

KARALI, A.; KAO, A.; MEESON, R.; ROLDO, M.; BLUNN, G.; TOZZI, G.

Abstract

The mechanical behavior of regenerated bone tissue during fracture healing is key in determining its ability to withstand physiological loads. However, the strain distribution in the newly formed tissue and how this influences the way a fracture heals it is still unclear. X-ray Computed Tomography (XCT) has been extensively used to assess the progress of mineralized tissues in regeneration and when combined with in situ mechanics and digital volume correlation (DVC) has been proven a powerful tool to understand the mechanical behavior and full-field three-dimensional (3D) strain distribution in bone. The purpose of this study is therefore to use in situ XCT mechanics and DVC to investigate the strain distribution and load-bearing capacity in a regenerating fracture in the diaphyseal bone, using a rodent femoral fracture model stabilized by external fixation. Rat femurs with 1 mm and 2 mm osteotomy gaps were tested under in situ XCT step-wise compression in the apparent elastic region. High strain was present in the newly formed bone (εp1 and εp3 reaching 29000 με and -43000 με, respectively), with a wide variation and inhomogeneity of the 3D strain distribution in the regenerating tissues of the fracture gap, which is directly related to the presence
of unmineralized tissue observed in histological images. The outcomes of this study will contribute in understanding natural regenerative ability of bone and its mechanical behavior under loading.

Citation

KARALI, A., KAO, A., MEESON, R., ROLDO, M., BLUNN, G., & TOZZI, G. (2020). Full‐field strain of regenerated bone tissue in a femoral fracture model. Journal of Microscopy, https://doi.org/10.1111/jmi.12937

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: May 29, 2020
• Publication Date: Jun 12, 2020
• Deposit Date: Jul 13, 2020
• Publicly Available Date: Jun 13, 2021
• Journal: Journal of Microscopy
• Print ISSN: 0022-2720
• Publisher: Wiley
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/jmi.12937
• Public URL: https://rvc-repository.worktribe.com/output/1377057
• Publisher URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/jmi.12937