Spongy bone structure and mechanical response (original) (raw)

Abstract

Humans in space suffer from losses of bone mass accompanied by bone restructuration. The structural adaption depends on prevailing loading conditions. It can be assumed that the resulting structure is optimized with respect to the given restrictions, which are governed by biological mechanisms. It is not understood how structure and mechanical properties of cancellous bone are linked and how the structure can be characterized precisely. The challenges are the complex spongy architecture of the bone as well as the anisotropy of mechanical properties of the trabeculae due to their evolution from collagen fibrils. For achieving a better understanding of dependence between structure and mechanical response researchers from 3 DLR-Institutes work together. We expect to gain insight in remodelling mechanisms, which can be considered as load dependent structural optimization processes. The knowledge can be translated into adapting the load, e.g. by systematic physical training of astronauts...

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