A Mathematical Model of Bone Remodeling.
Abstract
Living bone is continually undergoing processes of growth, reinforcement and resorption. These processes are termed collectively 'remodeling'. The remodeling processes in living bone are the mechanisms by which the bone adapts its histological structure to long-term changes in loading. Prolonged straining of a bone tends to make the bone stiffer, stronger and more dense; conversely, a living bone not subjected to its accustomed strain level will, in time, become more compliant, weaker and more porous. An example of this occurs when men are subjected to prolonged weightlessness. This report describes a mathematical model for the stress adaptation of cancellous bone. In Section I, the basic anatomical and physiological properties of bone which bring about remodeling are reviewed. Section II develops a general theory of adaptive elasticity that is capable of describing the trabecular adaptation of cancellous bone. In Section III, the general governing equations developed in the previous section are specialized to the case of two-dimensional adaptation to plane stress and numerical procedures as well as applications are discussed. Finally, Section IV describes the experimental procedures by which the material coefficients discussed in Section II can be measured experimentally.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- May 01, 1978
- Accession Number
- ADA057330
Entities
People
- David M. Hegedus
Organizations
- University of Dayton Research Institute