A bone remodelling model including the effect of damage on the steering of BMUs.
Bone remodelling in cortical bone is performed by the so-called basic multicellular units (BMUs), which produce osteons after completing the remodelling sequence. Burger et al. (2003) hypothesized that BMUs follow the direction of the prevalent local stress in the bone. More recently, Martin (2007) has shown that BMUs must be somehow guided by microstructural damage as well. The interaction of both variables, strain and damage, in the guidance of BMUs has been incorporated into a bone remodelling model for cortical bone. This model accounts for variations in porosity, anisotropy and damage level. The bone remodelling model has been applied to a finite element model of the diaphysis of a human femur. The trajectories of the BMUs have been analysed throughout the diaphysis and compared with the orientation of osteons measured experimentally. Some interesting observations, like the typical fan arrangement of osteons near the periosteum, can be explained with the proposed remodelling model. Moreover, the efficiency of BMUs in damage repairing has been shown to be greater if BMUs are guided by damage.
Departamento de Ingeniería Mecánica, Universidad de Sevilla, Escuela Técnica Superior de Ingeniería, Camino de los Descubrimientos, s/n E-41092 Sevilla, Spain. Electronic address: jmreina@us.es.
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Martínez-Reina
Departamento de Ingeniería Mecánica, Universidad de Sevilla, Escuela Técnica Superior de Ingeniería, Camino de los Descubrimientos, s/n E-41092 Sevilla, Spain.
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Reina
Departamento de Ingeniería Mecánica, Universidad de Sevilla, Escuela Técnica Superior de Ingeniería, Camino de los Descubrimientos, s/n E-41092 Sevilla, Spain.
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Domínguez
Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Zaragoza, Aragón Institute of Engineering Research (I3A), Spain.
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García-Aznar
D016723:Bone Remodeling; D001862:Bone Resorption / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology; D004058:Diffusion; D005269:Femur / Q000166:cytology* / Q000502:physiology*; D020342:Finite Element Analysis; D006253:Haversian System / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D008954:Models, Biological; D009068:Movement; D010521:Periosteum / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology; D013314:Stress, Mechanical
Basic multicellular units; Bone remodelling; Cortical bone; Orientation of osteons