title: Dynamic permeability of the lacunar-canalicular system in human cortical bone.
abstract: A new method for the experimental determination of the permeability of a small sample of a fluid-saturated hierarchically structured porous material is described and applied to the determination of the lacunar-canalicular permeability [Formula: see text] in bone. The interest in the permeability of the lacunar-canalicular pore system (LCS) is due to the fact that the LCS is considered to be the site of bone mechanotransduction due to the loading-driven fluid flow over cellular structures. The permeability of this space has been estimated to be anywhere from [Formula: see text] to [Formula: see text]. However, the vascular pore system and LCS are intertwined, rendering the permeability of the much smaller-dimensioned LCS challenging to measure. In this study, we report a combined experimental and analytical approach that allowed the accurate determination of the [Formula: see text] to be on the order of [Formula: see text] for human osteonal bone. It was found that the [Formula: see text] has a linear dependence on loading frequency, decreasing at a rate of [Formula: see text]/Hz from 1 to 100 Hz, and using the proposed model, the porosity alone was able to explain 86 % of the [Formula: see text] variability.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Engineering, The City College of New York, Steinman Hall, 160 Convent, New York, NY, USA.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Benalla
authors.forename: P E
authors.initials: PE
authors.lastname: Palacio-Mancheno
authors.forename: S P
authors.initials: SP
authors.lastname: Fritton
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Cardoso
authors.forename: S C
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Cowin
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000465:Algorithms; D000818:Animals; D001696:Biomechanical Phenomena; D001794:Blood Pressure; D015519:Bone Density; D001842:Bone and Bones / Q000502:physiology*; D004548:Elasticity; D005260:Female; D005269:Femur / Q000473:pathology*; D006253:Haversian System / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D040542:Mechanotransduction, Cellular; D008875:Middle Aged; D010011:Osteocytes / Q000166:cytology; D010539:Permeability; D016062:Porosity; D051381:Rats; D013314:Stress, Mechanical; D055114:X-Ray Microtomography