title: Bending properties of wire-reinforced bone cement for applications in spinal fixation.
abstract: PMMA beam specimens were tested in four-point bending to determine if the bending strength of acrylic bone cement, as used in posterior spinal fusion, could be improved by metal-wire reinforcement. The result showed that the load-carrying capacities of 1- and 0.5-mm diam stainless-steel-wire-reinforced PMMA specimens in bending were significantly higher than similar unreinforced normal PMMA samples. On an average, steel reinforcement comprising approximately 1% of the cross-sectional area of the PMMA specimens caused a 15% increase in bending strength. Even after the cement fractured, the reinforcing wires still sustained an appreciable amount of bending moment, thus preventing catastrophic failure of cement alone.
mesh_terms: D001843:Bone Cements; D004548:Elasticity; D008670:Metals; D008768:Methylmethacrylates; D011108:Polymers; D013123:Spinal Fusion / Q000295:instrumentation*; D013314:Stress, Mechanical; D013718:Tensile Strength
chemical_list: D001843:Bone Cements; D008670:Metals; D008768:Methylmethacrylates; D011108:Polymers